A Silicon Valley Disruption for Birds That Gorge on Endangered Fish

Hitchcock's "The Birds" never explained why they attacked humans. After reading this article, I now understand.

Why not start by getting rid of the real problems for salmon on the Columbia and Snake Rivers? Get rid of the dams!

Three cheers for the Army Corps of Engineers!

Encouraging terns to nest in Don Edwards seems all well and good, but what about going to something we can possibly control better--humans? Damming (one could just as accurately write "damning" here) rivers really messes with their ecosystem even if salmon and other migratory fish are given side highways around the dam. Humans eating these [delicious] fish seems to also loom just as big as to why these fish populations are so precipitously declining. Whenever I read an article like this, I used to wonder when fish would stop being available on to eat. Then I grew up a bit and became more cynical and realized than unless we criminalize the bottom line being the deciding factor, humans participating in capitalism will continue to make fish available to eat until there are no fish left to eat. I feel like this article implies that it is easier to change terns' behavior than human beings under late capitalism?

Of dams and dams, to dam or not to dam. You want flood control? You want water supplies and irrigation to arid lands? You want electrification? From the 30's to the 70's, build a dam. Without these dams, the development of many areas was not possible. The cost, stem the flows of the natural course of free running rivers and interfere with the ecosystems. Was it right or wrong? Our efforts now have to be how to mitigate that interference. It's not like we are going to return the Colorado and Columbia Rivers to their natural state anytime soon. The question is how best to proceed. Efforts like the relocating of tern colonies are where we are currently at. Sad but true.

An inaccuracy in the early part of this article. The Columbia River has been dammed for much longer than 2 decades.How about 80+ years from the Grand Coulee dam from the 1930's? I always ask myself "what else is inaccurate?" And any action can have unintended consequences. So collecting data to monitor effects of any action taken is vital.

This was a refreshing article to read amidst all of the frustrating political news. Unlike many of the commenters so far, I have faith in the many dedicated wildlife scientists that are trying to be creative and help do some good. I’m guessing that there was a lot of thought, planning and analysis that went into this project by some very smart and passionate people. Thanks to all of those that are still trying to work on solutions to our environmental problems, despite so much negativity from many of our “leaders”. Keep up the awesome work!

Several of the comments here are spot on. Humans tend to create another problem in nature whenever they artificially try to "correct" one. In this case, the potential harms are probably several. Aside from simply changing where the terns may possibly overfish, did they really retrieve all the plastic decoys or will some they overlook contribute to the already problematic plastic pollution of our waterways? What other changes might moving the terns create? Will they introduce new ride-along pests or will their guano have some unforeseen affect on their new mating sites? What affect will they have on the other inhabitants and seasonal visitors to these sites? Whenever I see a report like this one, I think of the story of the attempt to control an exotic starfish in Australia before the biology of starfish was sufficiently elucidated. They cut the starfish in pieces and thereby multiplied rather than reduced the problem, when the pieces regenerated into new starfish. Waiting for the the other shoe to drop on this one.

in order to protect salmon and trout that we have brought to the edge of extinction we put plastic birds in the path of migrating birds to keep them from eating the fish. Humans create very very bad substitutes for nature that make things worse. shame

These pathetic attempts to control nature are futile. At least this particular project isn’t killing any animals to accomplish its goals. In most cases, humans choose a particular species to save—in this case, salmon—and then methodically kill all other species that are perceived to be competitors. Trying to deflect terns from the Columbia River may be harmless in the short-run, but another attempt to “save” salmon in the Columbia River killed over 18,000 cormorants that also eat salmon. That project is more typical of these attempts to control nature. Every project is based on an inadequate understanding of the ecosystem being manipulated. In this case, the project assumes there is some benefit to terns eating anchovies and sardines in the San Francisco Bay rather than eating salmon in the Columbia River. Anchovies and sardines are as important to the ecosystem in the San Francisco Bay as salmon are to Columbia River. The survival of marine mammals depends on the dwindling population of anchovies and sardines which are unable to survive in our warming waters. Humans are choosing winners and losers in nature. The choices that humans make are usually doing more damage to the ecosystems they are intended to benefit.

One more thing for the silicone bubble to ruin.