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Bobby Weir

College English 12

Mr. Kirsten

28 October 2010

Loons Flying to an Oily Death

Thesis: Loons are a unique species to our area; paying to restore their habitat and get them

back on their wings, after the anticipated tragedy of the B.P. spill, is our obligation.

I. Introduction

A. Loons

B. B.P. Spill

C. Controversy

1. Loons not necessary

2. Different Place

D. Opinion

1. Responsibility

2. Voting

3. Wildlife friendly

E. Thesis

II. Background Information

A. Common Loons

1. Importance to People

2. Without Loons

3. Physical Description

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4. Environment

a) Food

b) Habitat

5. Life Cycle

a) Adolescents

b) Adults

c) Mating

d) Nesting Environment

6. Tracking

7. Migration-why is problem

B. B.P. Spill

1. Location

2. Statistics

III. Spill Effect

A. Dispersants

a) What are dispersants

b) Made of what

c) Problem with Dispersants

i. Effect on Loons

B. Contaminated Food Supply

C. Oil Saturation

1. Crude Oil

2. Drowning

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D. January No Fly Time

1. Molting

2. Starvation

C. Other Aquatic Species Affected

1. Crane

2. Seagull

IV. Alaska Spill

A. Compare

B. Contrast

1. 17 times…

C. Instant Effect

D. Long Term-Now

V. Anti-Environmentalists

A. Their Thought Process

B. Rebuttal

C. Proof

VI. Conclusion

A. Importance

B. Effect

C. What we can do to help

1. Voting

2. Care

3. Money

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Bobby Weir

College English 12

Mr. Kirsten

28 October 2010

Loons Flying to an Oily Death

Since April 20, 2010 two-hundred million gallons of oil have spilled into the

Gulf of Mexico (Weflen par 3). All this is the result of the British Petroleum’s deep

sea oil well head that sprung a leak and pumped crude oil into the Gulf. This oil is

destroying the habitats and lives of our matchless local loon population. “Loons are

considered one of the most primitive birds on earth. They have not changed from

their current state for the last one million years” (Sigurd, “About Loons” par 13).

This priceless age old population is already on the endangered species list and

considered threatened in the United States (Massachusetts par 4), to let this species

die out now, after a million years of existence would be a travesty. This is because

common Loons migrate down to the coast for the winter season. “Awaiting them

are waters made deadly by the worst oil spill in the nation’s history” said Seely. The

loons are unable to identify that the oil is a danger, and will continue to do just as

they have done for the centuries and be killed as a result of it. There are those who

think that the loons and other wildlife are unimportant, but without them our area

would be a largely different place. We need to put the resources we have to use, like

our power of voting, to save the loons and keep our home a wildlife-friendly place.

Loons are a unique species to our area; paying to restore their habitat by halting

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offshore drilling and get them back on their wings, after the anticipated tragedy of

the B.P. spill, is our obligation.

The loon’s name comes from a Norwegian word meaning “wild, sad cry”

(“Minnesota State Bird” par 6). Loons communicate through these sad calls; with

one for aggression, one for filial contact, one for defending property, and a wailing

cry for greetings. This wailing cry allegedly brings peace, tranquility, and the

reawakening of old hopes, wishes, and dreams in Native American stories ("Native

History" par 12). Stacy Craig, the former LoonWatch coordinator said that in

addition to being a peace bearer “Loons . . . contribute to the fishery: they are taking

the small, the weak, and the plentiful fish which allows fewer fish to grow bigger

faster. What that means is that there are more resources for the fish that are there,

and it allows the whole fishery to grow and have natural selection.” Along with

increasing the profit from our fisheries they provide people with a connection to

nature, “People have a real relationship with the north, they have a relating ship

with the lakes and watching loons is therapeutic. . . . Without the loon there will be

something missing and to a lot of people that will be depressing” (Craig 6). The

loons are an emblem of the north and their survival rests in our hands.

These water birds have a “thick neck and a long, black bill,” with a banded

neckline, their eyes are red and their legs are towards their rear end, making their

gait on land awkward (“Common Loon”). Their summer plumage contains black

spots whereas their winter plumage is gray, white, and spotless. During the summer

months loons eat freshwater “fish, frogs, leeches, crayfish, mollusks, salamanders,

and insects” and in the winter they eat similar things only they are saltwater

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creatures (“Common Loon” par 6). The breeding season takes place in the spring

with nest building beginning the day the ice leaves the lakes. This is made possible

by “reconnaissance missions” (Craig) to check if the water is clear of ice as the loons

fly from lake to lake on their 1000 mile migration north. Nests are composed of

reeds and grasses near the water’s edge. Typically in May two eggs are laid, usually

on the same lake the parents were born on (Sigurd “Loon Ecology” par 13), and the

eggs hatch in June. Adult loons have little need for caution as they have very few

predators, though they protect their vulnerable offspring from snapping turtles and

muskies by carrying them on their backs. About three fourths of the loons spend

their winters in the Atlantic Ocean and the other fourth in the Pacific. At the

beginning of autumn, mature adult loons begin making their annual migration.

“Chicks stay on the nesting lakes, feeding and taking their first test flights, until

nearly ice-over” (Sigurd “Loon Ecology” par 7). Adults leave their chicks behind to

find their own way to the Gulf where they “typically do not return to their breeding

ground (in the Great Lakes region) until their third summer” (Sigurd “Loon

Identification” par 8). This is cause for extreme concern because a large percentage

of the population, the developing adolescent loons, spent the whole year, including

the months of the oil spill, at the Gulf receiving a larger dose of oil than the adults

migrating in autumn. Those few extra months will potentially cause more extreme

long term effects.

In a ploy to understand more about the loons “researchers surgically inserted

tiny satellite transmitters into the abdomens of 10 loons from Minnesota and

Northern Wisconsin this summer and 80 loons will be equipped with geolocator

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tags so they can follow the birds migratory routes and feeding patters and learn

whether the loons survived the oil-fouled Gulf of Mexico” said Cadotte. This has only

been done a few times before, but is especially important this year as we are in the

wake of catastrophe, and we are the only ones that can help this precious species. In

addition to helping the loons, studying them will provide insight on what other

species are going through. Cadotte quotes Craig in saying, “They’re so sensitive to

the environment that they serve as an excellent indicator of environmental health.”

The B.P. spill was a consequence of the oil platform, Deepwater Horizon, which

exploded. The ship was attached to a wellhead thousands of feet below sea level with faulty

blowout preventers. These switches shut down the system in a leak, but when they failed to

do so the well became further uncapped, gushing out more oil by the minute (Mcquaid 7).

In June of 2010 just two months after the spill the estimated leakage was 127,000 barrels

(Gerstein par 3). It is now estimated at 4,761,905 barrels. That’s about the size of 3822 high

school gymnasiums filled to the brim with oil that has been released from the spill

(Gerstein par 3). Even more depressing is that these millions of gallons of oil, with all of

their destructive power, would only be enough to power the U.S. Economy for little more

than six days (Obama 8). This mistake, be it by B.P. or by somebody else, has and will have

a horrific impact on our loon population and the world that surrounds them.

All these numbers confirm the tragedy of the oil spill, but how are these numbers

going to affect our loons? Even the air is polluted by intentionally burned surface oil in

attempt to reduce the amount of oil on the ocean (Gulf Oil Spill par 5). This polluted air is

going to be breathed in by human and bird alike, latently to cause disease in both. The oil

filled “polluted water can become trapped in thermal layers and transported by undersea

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currents” said Powers, “to impact large areas of the ocean”. These oil deposits may stay

there for decades or more, slowly releasing small amounts and continuing to let its toxicity

kill marine life (“Effects of Oil Spills” par 7). Some of it will make its way to shore in thick

crude oil blankets to clog up beaches with tar balls.

To lessen the damage of the oil spill dispersants are being released,

endangering the loons further. “The nearly 2 million gallons of chemical dispersants

used to fight the spill have kept some oil from contaminating shores, but have also

created potentially drastic problems by breaking up the oil into droplets that may

never be recovered” (“Oil Spill” par 7). In addition to the impossibility of recovering

the beads, wildlife, especially fish, consume the oil and become poisoned. “We

mostly worry about food chain dynamics,” said Wilson, a volunteer of Michigan’s

Loon Watch program. “The birds eat fish; the big concern is some kind of poisoning”

(qtd. in Seeley). Oil droplets have already been found in “crab larvae harvested in

the Gulf” (“Oil Spill” par 8). This means that food contamination has already begun

and is on its way to hurting the loons. “Oil ingestion has been shown to cause

suppression to the immune system, organ damage, skin irritation, ulceration, and

behavioral changes. . . . Oil also affects animals in non-lethal ways such as

impairing reproduction” (“Effects of Oil Spills” par 6). The oil that doesn’t break into

droplets is still dangerous, “physical contact with oil destroys the insulation value of

feathers, causing birds to die of hypothermia. . . . Heavily oiled birds can lose their

ability to fly and their buoyancy, causing drowning” (Effects of Oil Spills). For a large

portion of their winter migration period the loons are molting all of their feathers at

once, making them unable to fly. Loons molt because their feathers need to be

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waterproof and strong for their migration and they become weakened after

extended use. Without every single one of their feathers they cannot fly, as they

have a minimal amount. They molt all at once to diminish their ground time.

(“Common Loon”) They normally place themselves in an area just off shore so that

their food sources are plentiful. The oil spill is killing off some of those plentiful food

sources leaving the loons in a place with no wings to move and no food to eat. A loon

needs 300 lbs. of fish per season to survive, and without that, in addition to

ingesting immune system suppressing oil, the loons have a slim chance of survival

(Craig). If the loons survive their molting period without starving or contracting

hypothermia and drowning to their death, because of oil contamination of the water,

they have another hoop to fly through. When not on the water the loons nest in the

shoreline grasses that are now contaminated by oil (United States “Loons”). The

more they have contact with oil the higher the likelihood that they will die. This spill

“could end 25 years of population growth,” said Craig (qtd. in Cadotte).

It’s not only the loons that are going to suffer; all aquatic species in the Gulf are

going to be battling for their survival. Species like the Laughing Gull who make their home

year round on the Gulf are going to have drastic decreases in population for years to come.

In the past three months about 3000 of these gulls have been recovered with 2500 of them

dead or dying (United States "Bird" 2). This is an example that is repeated throughout the

ecosystem. “We have never had a spill of this magnitude in the deep ocean,” said

oceanography professor Ian MacDonald in a story in The New York Times. “These things

reverberate through the ecosystem. It is an ecological echo chamber, and I think we’ll be

hearing the echoes of this, ecologically, for the rest of my life” (qtd. in Weflen). This issue

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will not just go away when the oil can no longer be seen, it will stay here continuing to

affect our world.

The common loon and oil spills unfortunately have a recent history together,

so recent in fact that they are still recovering from it. In 1989, twenty-one years ago,

a ship called Exxon Valdez spilled oil all over Alaska’s Prince William Sound (“Oil

Spill”). Though a tremendous amount of oil was spilled and its effect is still being

seen, it is estimated that it was only “one 17th of that which has gushed from the

Gulf of Mexico’s ruptured well” (“Oil Spill”). A stunning effect of the Exxon Valdez oil

is that it can still be seen today and in some places the toxicity level is the same now

as it was the day after the spill (Exxon Valley “Lingering”). Not only has the oil been

found near the spill but over 450 miles away as the oil spread with wind and water

currents carrying it to where it still lingers today (Exxon Valley “Lingering”). Though

the B.P spill and the Exxon Valdez spills are miles apart, their consequences will be

very close in nature. Alaska contains the largest loon population in the United States,

with over 12,000 loons breeding on its shores (Mcintyre, and Barr ). Fortunately

only a little over 200 loon carcasses were found from the spill (Riley-Daniels),

though the larger picture effect can better be seen in the population studies that

were done in the years after the spill where a large decrease in population resulted

(Exxon Valley “Common”). If we were to equate the number of loons that were

found with the amount of oil that was spilled in Alaska we could hypothetically

calculate the number of loons that will die in the similar spill in the Gulf, that

number being 3,400 loons.

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There are two sides to every argument. In this case only one side come to

logical conclusions and that is not the side of the Anti-Environmentalists. One of the

anti-environmentalist’s outrageous claims is that environmentalists planned the

spill to convince people that offshore drilling should be stopped. Gloudemn quotes

Rush Limbaugh, a traditionalist political commentator:

I want to get back to the timing of the blowing up, the explosion out there in

the Gulf of Mexico of this oil rig. . . . But this bill, the cap-and-trade bill, was

strongly criticized by hardcore environmentalist wackos because it

supposedly allowed more offshore drilling and nuclear plants, nuclear plant

investment. . . . What better way to head off more oil drilling, nuclear plants,

than by blowing up a rig? I'm just noting the timing here. (Gloudman)

Limbaugh maintains that the environmentalists would cause tremendous, irreversible

damage to the ocean, the shore, the fisheries, the wildlife, and many other parts of the

ecosystem all for the sake of defeating the cap-and-trade bill. His words are provoked by

the urge to be competitive, to always be right, and the belief that that “environmentalists

are evil and would stop at nothing to further their unfounded cause” (Gloudemn). Another

claim that has been made quotes Powers in saying “the loss of a few loons in the disastrous

oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is insignificant when compared to other losses.” One of the

“other losses” being referred to is the oil that escaped, in a sense making our oil

dependency ( to fuel our cars and make plastic containers), more important than the loss of

a fellow species’ existence. What would people say if this was happening near their homes,

say on Lake Superior; if our fish population was killed off and the touristic draw stopped,

causing our economy to plummet? This is a possibility if we don’t use this disaster as an

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example to change our laws and make restrictions on industries that could hurt our

environment.

"The tragedy unfolding on our coast is the most painful and powerful

reminder yet that the time to embrace a clean energy future is now" (Obama).

Obama’s words hold the plan for the future, one that we can all have a part in

making happen. Craig’s is to “use our power of voting to try to vote in

representatives who will stand up to oil companies and tax breaks and faulty well

heads.” The constitution gives us the right to choose our leaders, and if we choose

the leaders who will help us to fight for the environment and our wildlife, like the

loons, “it would mean a much healthier population for the duration of their (loons)

lives” (Craig) and that we are filling our obligations as human beings; taking care of

the planet we live on. “We should think about our own dependency on oil and are

there ways that we can minimize our needs, so that we are only extracting from

areas that are less ecologically sensitive,” says Craig. It’s a realistic compromise,

understanding that we need time to wean ourselves of our oil dependency, in

addition to changing ordinances to prevent catastrophes like the B.P. spill from

happening again, but we need to set our goal at ending all offshore drilling on the

oceans or near our own body of water, Lake Superior. Ornithologist Roger Tory

Peterson says that “they (the loons) can recover from disastrous population declines

if people take action to provide and restore a clean, healthy environment, including

safe places to nest and to winter, and provide protection from illegal killing” (United

States “Loons”). There is hope for our loon population, but only if we act with their

futures in mind, looking ahead to avoid restoration effort made now from becoming

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futile in the longer term. Craig’s suggestion of “thinking about these things before

they happen” is our “best bet.” We have to think about the bigger picture and that

“loons are only one of many species that are being harmed by the oil spill , but they

are a symbol of how the spill is not just a disaster for the Gulf Coast states—it is a

national and international disaster” (For Some Minnesota). This is our issue too; the

loons of Northern Wisconsin are in danger and fighting for their very lives.

Eradicating oil drilling is our duty and voting effectively with the loons and our

futures in mind is the only solution.

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Gloudemn, Nikki. "Limbaugh on Oil Spill: Environmentalists Planned It." Environmental

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