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Eagles are the Canary of the Great Lakes

The Freep reports that just as coal miners used to use canaries to detect methane, ecologists use bald eagles to detect environmental toxins in the Great Lakes. According to Bill Bowerman, a professor of wildlife ecology and toxicology at Clemson "Bald eagles are great indicators of environmental health. By looking at contaminants in eagles, we can get a handle on what's happening with chemicals like dioxins and mercury in inland lakes and the Great Lakes, because most of their diet is fish."

He said that while toxin levels had dropped by half in eagles statewide since he began his research more than 20 years ago, "they're still four or five times higher in eagles that live along the Great Lakes than in those that live on inland lakes and rivers."

Read Bald eagles serve as ecological barometer in the from the Detroit Free Press

Posted/updated May 31, 2006
by Andrew McFarlane (Absolute Michigan)