Re: “A PNW bird is in mysterious decline. Two Salish Sea islands hold clues” (Sept. 14, Local weather Lab):
Amanda Zhou’s piece on the intense decline of Washington’s tufted puffin inhabitants highlighted organic specialists’ interpretation of the potential causes now below investigation. As a biologist myself with 35 years spanning Florida to Alaska, I need to add a trigger so far ignored. Ample proof has revealed that most of the puffin’s household (Alcidae), which incorporates threatened marbled murrelets, are simply harassed by human disturbance — like massive noise occasions.
For these birds, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service informs {that a} noise of 92 decibels, or a sudden 20-decibel or extra improve in noise, can harass and diminish replica, nesting and chick survival.
So proper there, smack dab in the midst of the few remaining Salish Sea’s puffin reproductive colonies, sit EA-18G Navy Growler jets with noise ranges in some areas at 115 decibels or about 4 occasions louder than the noise-disturbance threshold. Certain, noise from most of the flight paths are under that disturbance degree. However many are nicely above, and the impacts of these shouldn’t be summarily dismissed just because we’ve mistakenly believed, till lately, that noise results on wildlife and people are negligible.
It’s time to incorporate noise when in search of the causes of species declines.
Robert Wilbur, Coupeville, chair of Residents of Ebey’s Reserve
