INTRODUCTION: Since 1983 inexplicably large numbers of dead...
INTRODUCTION: Since 1983 inexplicably large numbers of dead and dying common l oons (Gavia immer) have been found along Floridas Gulf Coast. Under threat fr om acid rain, lake pollution, and human encroachment, their numbers are declini ng elsewhere as well. Lake acidification has resulted in fewer fish, the birds principal f ood. More insidiously, it increases the rate at which mercury in ponds is toxi fied, the poisonous methylmercury enters the food chain and is eventually inges ted by the loon. It attacks the birds nervous system, hindering its ability to feed and reproduce. ----- LEGEND: A loon in breeding colors incubates its eggs in its n est among the reeds close to the shore of a lake or pond. Devoted parents, mal e and female loons share incubation duties for some 28 days before the chicks hatch. Occasio nally loons will doggedly -- and indefinitely -- attempt to hatch a foreign obj ect, such as a seashell or an egg-shaped rock.
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Tags: large, feed, reproduce., inexplicably, RARE, LOONS, attacks, parents, indefinitely, PARENTING, share, ted, ANIMALS), breeding, Lake
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INTRODUCTION: Since 1983 inexplicably large numbers of dead...
INTRODUCTION: Since 1983 inexplicably large numbers of dead and dying common l oons (Gavia immer) have been found along Floridas Gulf Coast. Under threat fr om acid rain, lake pollution, and human encroachment, their numbers are declini ng elsewhere as well. Lake acidification has resulted in fewer fish, the birds principal f ood. More insidiously, it increases the rate at which mercury in ponds is toxi fied, the poisonous methylmercury enters the food chain and is eventually inges ted by the loon. It attacks the birds nervous system, hindering its ability to feed and reproduce. ----- LEGEND: Close view of a mated pair of common loons swimming i n tandem in a lake or pond. The birds are in breeding plumage.
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Tags: The, -----, Since, ted, Close, LIFE, swimming, dying, tandem, LEGEND:, large, pond., enters, WILD, mercury Add to del.icio.us Digg this Add to reddit Add to myYahoo!
INTRODUCTION: Since 1983 inexplicably large numbers of dead...
INTRODUCTION: Since 1983 inexplicably large numbers of dead and dying common l oons (Gavia immer) have been found along Floridas Gulf Coast. Under threat fr om acid rain, lake pollution, and human encroachment, their numbers are declini ng elsewhere as well. Lake acidification has resulted in fewer fish, the birds principal f ood. More insidiously, it increases the rate at which mercury in ponds is toxi fied, the poisonous methylmercury enters the food chain and is eventually inges ted by the loon. It attacks the birds nervous system, hindering its ability to feed and reproduce. ----- LEGEND: A tiny chick is fed by its parent as they bob on a la ke or pond -- perhaps as a reward for venturing into the water on its own. The adult wears breeding plumage in this extraordinarily charming picture.
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Tags: declini, PONDS, ng, MATING, Under, food, ood., POOLS, ponds, fish, reward, Coast., picture., own., pond Add to del.icio.us Digg this Add to reddit Add to myYahoo!