This&That
Hey Cormorant, Duck!
CORMORANT CULL TO CONTINUE ON LAKE ONTARIO by Ian Merringer
“It began as a sport, now it’s our lifestyle!”
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Nothing imparts an eerie mood on an evening paddle like a huge flock of cor- morants spread across the water. The eerie factor only increases when the prehistoric waterfowl perch in trees, hunched over like Dr. Seussian vul- tures.
The sight of perching cormorants makes the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources uneasy also. In mid-May it announced a second cull of up to 5,500 tree-nesting cormorants on High Banks Island at Lake Ontario’s Presqu’ile Provincial Park.
For several weeks in May and June MNR staff armed with .22-calibre rifles will be cutting down a local popula- tion that some say is out of control. Cormorant numbers have soared ever since a 1970s ban on DDT. In 1982 there was one nest in Presqu’ile, now there are more than 12,000. Steve Payne from the MNR says the population needs to be controlled to protect forest habitat from the cor-
September 9–11, 2005 Port Townsend, WA
Register on-line at:
www.wcsks.org
NORTH AMERICA’S PREMIER ON-WATER PADDLING EVENT!
West Coast Sea Kayak Symposium is a Trade Association of Paddlesports (TAPS) event. 12 // Summer 2005 ADVENTURE kayak’s
2005 EVENT SCHEDULE June 4
Round Bowen Kayak Race Bowen Island, BC
www.roundbowenrace.com
June 10–12
Great Canadian Outdoor Expo Woodstock, ON
www.greatcanadianoutdoor-
expo.com
June 11
Explore Kayaking Vancouver, BC
www.ecomarine.com
June 11–12 Atlantic Canada Sea Kayaker’s Meeting Tangier, NS
www.coastaladventures.com
June 12
Miramichi Lodge Paddlequest Petawawa, ON
www.thedailyobserver.ca
June 16–19 Inland Sea Kayak Symposium
July 1–3
Lake Superior Sea Kayak Paddlefest Wawa, ON
www.naturallysuperior.com /
paddlefest.htm
July 8–10
Door County Sea Kayak Symposium Door County, WI
www.rutabaga.com/every-
morants’ acidic guano. The park is home to 125 other varieties of birds, and is one of five great egret nesting grounds in Ontario. Some naturalist organizations think the cull has less to do with healthy trees and more to do with sport fish- eries.
Ainslie Willock of Toronto Residents for Cormorants and Nature says the ministry is caving to pressure from sportfishing clubs who argue the birds compete for food with salmon and other prized species. Willock suggests the population boom indicates a healthy ecosystem, one capable of bal- ancing itself out. “To start a yearly slaughter means to start a perpetual cycle of killing,” she argues. In either case, High Banks Island will be a good place to avoid in your kayak. Even after the bullets stop fly- ing, the 5,500 cormorants will be com- posted on site.
Sponsored by
Washburn, WI
www.inlandsea.org
onepaddles July 10
B.C. Marine Trail Ocean Kayak Marathon Jericho Beach, Vancouver, BC
www.ecomarine.com
July 14–17
Great Lakes Sea Kayak Symposium
Grand Marais, MI
glsks.org
July 30–Aug 6 The Great River Rumble
St. Cloud, MN
www.riverrumble.org
August 14
Androscoggin Hand Powered Regatta Brunswick, ME
www.brunswickrotary.org/r egatta2005
August 27
State of Maine Flatwater Championship Race
www.mackro.org
Go to
www.adventurekayakmag.com for 2005 event schedule updates
photo Rick Matthews
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