For the Birds Radio Program: Jet Skis
Laura wrote to Governor Ventura about the problems birds are facing due to jet skis.
Transcript
Jet Skis .
In the past few years, I’ve gotten more and more annoyed at jet skiers. This isn’t quite the season for them, but in preparation, this is a letter I sent Governor Ventura earlier this month.
Dear Governor Ventura:
I dislike jet skis because I) they are a noisy and annoying intrusion on the lakes where I go to seek solitude and 2) they pose a serious threat to shore and water birds including loons. The American Ornithologists’ Union published a summary of known information about loons written by Dr. Judith W. McIntyre and Dr. Jack F. Barr, recognized authorities on the loon. They write:
Chicks are susceptible to separation from parents by boaters, water skiers, and jet skiers. Nurseries [that is, the shallow water with emerging plants where baby loons learn to find food and where they are protected from eagles, gulls, and other potential predators] are generally safe from human intrusion, but chicks being moved across open water to nurseries are at risk. Loons are known to kill chicks other than their own; chicks are also easy prey for predatory fish and avian predators. Many chicks are killed from trauma associated with outboard propellers. Several documented accounts report jet ski accidents (sometimes intentional) that killed chicks. Jet skis currently are the most threatening disturbance factor because they are fast, highly maneuverable, and able to run in shallow water, including nest and nursery locations .
The ornithologists that wrote this are not involved in politics-they’re simply reporting on the biology of loons.
Governor Ventura, I realize that personal freedom is the hallmark of our system of government, and that your honest, plain-speaking style and support of personal freedom is why you were elected. So although my gut feeling as an environmentalist and an ornithologist is to oppose ALL jet skiing, I’m not asking you to change your position on this issue.
Rather, I’m imploring you to please use your office and your popularity with the jet-ski crowd to talk to them frankly about the problems they pose for baby loons. Won’t you use your bully pulpit to point out how unmanly it is to harass helpless ducklings and baby loons? Please make it clear that the Minnesota D.N.R.’ s concerns about the issue are real, and that jet skiers must exercise their rights responsibly or they deserve to lose those rights?
That’s what I wrote to the governor. I hope he responds.