Monday, August 08, 2011

Black Skimmer Population In Decline




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A story in this morning's paper notes the local black skimmer population is in decline. The story seems to express puzzlement as to the reason. The reason is clear, loss of habitat and pollution.
The demands of economic development always exacts a price on the environment. For years in the nineties I was a windsurfing instructor along the JFK causeway. At that time there was a large nesting colony of these fascinating birds. Several years later prominent real estate developers pushed the construction of the new elevated causeway which chased away the skimmers. This was an obvious cause/effect situation that has been repeated over and over in our area and developers are clamoring for more.

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