[audioplayer:10831|align:right|caption:The call of the common loon.]
The call of the is one of the most beautifully haunting sounds in North America. The bird鈥檚 iconic wail (to hear it, click the play button above), is used by mated pairs to keep track of one another in their breeding grounds along the shores of pristine northern lakes. This week the loon鈥檚 call brought forth an unexpected answer from the deep pockets of a controversial American billionaire. On Wednesday, the awarded a $6.5 million grant to the Maine-based (BRI) for research projects aimed at saving the loon.
It鈥檚 an unusual award from a surprising source.
鈥淭his is the largest award ever given toward loon conservation and research,鈥 BRI founder and executive director Dave Evers told me earlier this week, prior to the official announcement. 鈥淚t鈥檚 big enough to allow us to conduct new research, strengthen existing populations, and restore loons to places where they鈥檝e been lost over the past century.鈥
Loon populations have been declining significantly throughout their core range鈥攎ostly Canada and the northern tier of the United States鈥攐ver the past 20 years, due in large part to mercury poisoning, acid rain, , and the rise of botulism in the Great Lakes region. Common loons are endangered in Vermont, threatened in New Hampshire and Michigan, and a species of special concern in New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.
The man behind the money, Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts, is a new arrival to the world of conservation funding. He鈥檚 better known as a major Republican donor whose candidates are proud low-rankers on conservation voters scorecards, including Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) and Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.). He spent $10 million last year trying to defeat President Obama, and his conservative Super PAC, the Ending Spending Action Fund, last year funneled millions to Republican candidates who 鈥渇avor enhancing free enterprise, reducing the size of government, and balancing our nation鈥檚 budget.鈥
So how鈥檇 he end up giving $6.5 million to a bunch of loon researchers?
Ricketts is a man of eclectic passions. In recent years he鈥檚 invested part of his billion-dollar fortune in bison ranches and a film production unit (the ) dedicated to creating movies based on American history. Though not a baseball fan, the Ricketts' family trust bought the Chicago Cubs in 2009 because his kids were Cubs fans and Ricketts saw it as a safe investment鈥斺渓ike buying a Picasso,鈥 he鈥檚 reported as saying in a 2012 profile.
Add loons to that collection of passions. 鈥淚鈥檝e had the idea of starting a conservation foundation for many years,鈥 Ricketts said in a video interview taped recently at his Wyoming ranch. (The billionaire is notoriously media-shy. The video was released as part of the announcement this week by BRI officials.) When he looked around for a species on which to concentrate, 鈥渓oons were the answer to my thoughts,鈥 he said. 鈥淏ecause loons on our lakes and streams are similar to the canary in a mine.鈥
In other words, the fish-eating bird is a good indicator species. That鈥檚 due to its long lifespan and its place on top of the food chain. When contaminants and toxins threaten lakes, the damage often shows up first in the local loon population.
A recent 32-year of loons conducted by Bird Studies Canada found a strong connection between acid rain, mercury levels, and depressed loon reproduction in lakes across eastern Canada. Acid rain, caused by industrial emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, gradually lowers the pH level of lake water. That reduces fish populations, a major food for loons. Airborne mercury emitted by coal-fired power plants in North America and China falls into the lakes and settles in the bottom sediments. Bacteria in the lake transform it into methylmercury, an organic neurotoxin, which then moves up the food chain. At the top sits the loon.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a subtle effect,鈥 said BRI鈥檚 Evers, who has studied loons and mercury levels for more than 20 years. 鈥淚t affects the bird鈥檚 productivity over time.鈥 In one , Evers and Nina Schoch, of the Wildlife Conservation Foundation, found that loons with elevated levels of mercury produced one-third to one-half as many chicks as healthy loons. Mercury also leaves adult loons lethargic, which renders both adults and their chicks more vulnerable to predators.
One not-so-subtle effect hits loons that nest around the Great Lakes. Joe Kaplan, a former BRI scientist who now directs Common Coast, a research and conservation organization in northern Michigan, currently studies the spread of botulism among loon populations along Lake Michigan. The deadly biotoxin had been largely eradicated from the Great Lakes in the early 1980s. It returned to Lake Huron in 1999, and then spread to Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. By 2006 it had reached Lake Michigan, carried by invasive zebra mussels and quagga mussels. Since 1999, botulism outbreaks have claimed more than 100,000 waterbirds in the region. Hardest hit are common loons, white-winged scoters, horned grebes, and long-tailed ducks. 鈥淟ast year we had at least ,鈥 Kaplan said. 鈥淎nd 99 percent were adults, which means it鈥檚 reducing the population size.鈥
Kaplan, Evers, and others who work with loons were buoyant about this week鈥檚 announcement of the Ricketts grant. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a shot in the arm for the species,鈥 said Kaplan, who partners with Michigan 爆料公社 on a to promote conservation of the species in the region. BRI director Dave Evers said the money will provide researchers with 鈥渢he means to tackle some of these stressors, like mercury, acid rain, and botulism, that are out there causing problems.鈥
For Joe Ricketts, funding the loon research is a way to make the invisible become seen. 鈥淚f we鈥檙e polluting our lakes to the point where we鈥檙e killing the loons,鈥 he said, 鈥渋t鈥檚 a wake-up call to us as human beings, that we鈥檙e causing more damage to our environment than we think we are鈥攁nd we can鈥檛 see it except through a bird like the loon.鈥
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction: Joe Ricketts is not the owner of the Chicago Cubs; the Ricketts' family trust owns the franchise.