Fish-eating shoreline birds harmed by polluted Michigan waters, years-long study finds

[marmar]

(Detroit Free Press) Fish-eating gulls and terns nesting on Michigan shoreline areas known to have longstanding industrial contamination reproduce less, have fewer chicks that survive and develop more deformities than those on nonpolluted shorelines, a decadelong field study by Calvin University researchers found.

Keith Grasman, a biologist who studies environmental health effects at the Grand Rapids-based university, from 2010 to 2019 looked at reproduction, populations, fledgling growth and other health indicators among "colonial waterbirds" at specified contaminated reference sites, as well as at non-contaminated shoreline nesting areas for a comparison. The birds studied were herring gulls, Caspian terns and black-crowned night herons.

The birds were assessed at known water-contaminated locations including the Saginaw Bay and River area of western Lake Huron; the River Raisin on western Lake Erie; and Grand Traverse Bay in northwestern Lake Michigan. ..................(more)

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2025/01/28/calvin-university-fish-gulls-birds-pollution-water/77971796007/