Central Maine Newspapers
The Native Conservative
758 words
October 3, 2012
It’s Time to Get the Lead Out
Linda and I were working in the garden when we heard a voice hollering from the woods.
I thought I heard, “I’ve got a loon and need help.”
That didn’t make a lot of sense to me, but sure enough, when I stepped into the woods,
there was Shearon Murphy with a loon cradled under her arm. And here is that loon’s story.
Jane Naliboff photographed the loon the morning of September 7 on Minnehonk Lake.
When she got home and loaded the photos into her computer, something looked very wrong. So
she emailed the photos to Keel Kemper, a wildlife biologist with Maine’s Department of Inland
Fisheries and Wildlife.
Keele agreed that something was wrong with the loon and recommended a rescue. Jane
contacted Avian Haven, and late that afternoon, Shearon Murphy, a volunteer waterfowl rescuer,
showed up with her kayak, paddled out to the loon, now in the outlet of the lake right behind our
Mount Vernon home, and simply reached down and picked up the loon. Definitely not something
that would ever happen with a healthy loon.
Looking into the right eye of that beautiful creature, I too knew that something was very
very wrong. The loon’s head and neck languished on Shearon’s hip as I drove her back to her
vehicle, where Jane met us, along with Barbara Skapa who had joined in the rescue mission.
We loaded the loon into a box, covered it up with a sheet I’d grabbed from our garage,
and Shearon took off to deliver the loon to Avian Haven, where a large lead sinker was found in
its gizzard..
The next day, Jane published her story and lots of photos in the Daily Bulldog, reporting,
“The good news is that after lavage, (pouring water into the gizzard to flush out the sinker) it
worked. The sinker came out! It’s now getting chelation therapy to lower the lead level to a
normal range. When that happens, it will be released back to its natural environment. It’s a happy
ending for what was almost another dead water bird due to human behavior.”
Boy, I was some old happy to read this and pleased with the small role I played in the
rescue of this beautiful creature.
Alas, at 9 pm that night, Jane posted this: “It is with great sadness and disappointment
that I must tell you: despite a successful lavage procedure, our friend survived only a few more
hours before succumbing to lead poisoning. Everyone did all they could, and we are all
heartbroken.”
The rest of the story is even worse. Quite a few years ago, Maine Audubon proposed and
lobbied for a new law banning the sale of lead sinkers weighing one ounce or less.
On behalf of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, I successfully lobbied to reduce the
weight to half an ounce or less, and the bill was enacted. It is illegal today in Maine to sell lead
sinkers of one half ounce or less.
The lead sinker that killed the loon that’s the subject of this story weighed five eighths of
an ounce – slightly more than the half ounce that was banned. I was stunned to hear that from the
owner of Avian Haven. And humbled, feeling partially responsible for the death.
At the time Audubon proposed the bill, alternatives to lead sinkers were new to the
market and much more expensive. That was my rationale for opposing the bill and working to
reduce the weight of the banned sinkers.
But the weight reduction was not the only error made. We didn’t ban the use of lead
sinkers. Perhaps we understood the impossibility of getting such a ban enacted by the legislature.
I really don’t remember.
Even though lots of alternatives are readily available today for lead sinkers, prices of
those other types of sinkers have come down, and stores including LL Bean don’t sell lead
sinkers anymore, many anglers continue to use lead sinkers. Although I rarely use sinkers these
days, my tackle boxes are full of lead sinkers – enough for at least my next two generations of
anglers.
Soon after that loon died, I collected all those sinkers and set them aside. But when I
inquired about disposal, I discovered this won’t be easy. Lead sinkers are hazardous waste.
That’s right. We’re fishing with hazardous waste! I’ll be working with my local transfer station
supervisor to properly dispose of my lead sinkers.
And I urge all Maine anglers join me in ridding our tackle boxes of lead sinkers. Better
late than never.