My
ScribeBy: Lynn Langley of The Post and
Courier Staff
Originally Published on: 5/8/03
As nesting declines, state steps up effort to prevent trespassing
On Crab Bank, within view of Shem Creek, boaters have had egg fights using what would have become the next generation of pelicans and royal terns.
Last summer, two women spent an hour collecting shells around nesting areas on White Banks, where black skimmers, pelicans, gull-billed terns and oystercatchers nest in Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge.
When a biologist arrived, the shell seekers departed, allowing frightened parents to return to their nests. Meanwhile, hungry gulls had destroyed almost the entire colony of eggs and chicks.
Every year, more boats unload more picnickers and fishermen on a handful of Lowcountry islands and keys, and seabird nesting is declining, biologists say.
"We're not sure of all the factors, but human disturbance is one thing we can do something about," said Jamie Dozier, coastal preserve manager for the S.C. Department of Natural Resources.
More intense protection efforts are under way as thousands of seabirds are pairing off and building nests on the same isolated sandy sites that lure people each spring and summer.
A new state law protects state rookeries, and a full-time federal law enforcement officer is watching national nesting sites. New signs and ropes notify visitors to stay away, and violators could face federal and state penalties.
Fines could range from $50 to $5,000 depending on the severity of the charge, and people could be charged numerous ways, said Cape Romain biologist Sarah Dawsey.
Federal charges could range from animal trespass for pets ($50) to taking an animal without authorization ($500) to violation of the federal migratory bird treaty act ($250 plus $25 per nest, egg and so forth), Dawsey said.
The state could charge even more severe fines in cases involving a least tern, a threatened species in this state.
DNR has new authority this year to forbid people and dogs from entering areas designated as nesting areas, Dozier said. Legislation went into effect late in the nesting season last year, so only warnings were issued until now, he said.
This year, a DNR officer could write tickets ranging from $25 to $250, conceivably with a separate fine for each violation such as each nest or bird affected, Dozier said. Court costs double each fine.
People photographing wildlife or delighting in rising clouds of birds can unintentionally squash eggs and chicks, perfectly camouflaged in tern and skimmer nests that are mere scrapes in the beach sand.
An exposed chick may die in just five minutes of summer heat, and eggs bake quickly.
"People have come up to me with an egg and said, 'Look what I found,' " Dawsey said.
"Dogs can do a lot of damage," said Felicia Sanders, a DNR wildlife biologist. "Dogs love to chase birds. They run through a rookery, eggs flying. With a few dogs running through an island, you could lose all the nests."
Last spring, 11,509 pairs of pelicans, terns and black skimmers built nests along the state's coast.
Since 1990, pelican nests in South Carolina have fallen from 7,800 to 3,001 last year.
Dawsey describes Cape Romain as an important seabird and shorebird habitat that had 4,631 seabird nests last year, including nearly 50 percent of the state's oystercatcher nests, 35 percent of pelicans, 73 percent of black skimmers, 100 percent of common terns, 67 percent of gull-billed terns and many other species.
"There has been a noticeable decline in the pelican population," Dawsey said. Oystercatchers, which are pairing off in Cape Romain now, also have decreased, she noted.
Royal and sandwich terns are declining, too, as are least terns.
In her 16 years with Cape Romain, Dawsey said, there's been a dramatic increase in public use.
"That's why we are spending a lot more time posting and patrolling nesting areas this year," she said.
In all, 110 signs, nearly twice as many as last year, will mark seabird rookery areas at three state heritage preserves: Crab Bank near Mount Pleasant; Deveaux Bank, in the mouth of the North Edisto River near Seabrook Island; and Bird Key Stono, between Kiawah Island and the south end of Folly Beach in the mouth of the Stono River.
The signs state that the bird nesting area is closed from April 1 to Oct. 15, list the law involved, and add that "these protected species are harmed by any disturbance."
DNR will place more ropes around nesting areas this year, especially on Crab Bank and Bird Key. The 35-acre Deveaux Bank is too large to encircle.
People may use the beach along the water's edge at Bird Key and Deveaux but should not venture beyond the signs, Dozier said.
Those three state sites and Cape Romain's Marsh Island are the only places in this state where the declining numbers of pelicans and royal and sandwich terns nest, Sanders said, and "all four are destination points for people and dogs on weekends."
Cape Romain closes 30-acre Marsh Island, which had 3,609 seabird and wading bird nests last year, and smaller White Banks from Feb. 16 through Sept. 14.
The refuge closes nesting areas and forbids pets on Cape and Lighthouse islands and Raccoon Key. "It's very imperative that people leave them alone," Dawsey said, noting that seabirds nest directly on the ground on those islands, which have sandy beaches that people also like.
It would be better for the birds if no one visited those three islands during nesting season, she said, "but we know that is not realistic. People have been using them for years."
Instead, the refuge circles nesting sites with "Area Closed" signs, telling people to stay away.
"A lot of people ignore the signs and go through the colony, or they set up a chair right next to a sign," said Dawsey, who expected to spend this week posting signs at the north and south ends of Cape and the south end of Lighthouse.
This year, a full-time law enforcement officer will join Dawsey and other refuge staff in writing tickets for violators, such as the folks who brought a pet pot-bellied pig to a rookery.
My
Scribe