MONROE — Call it another sign of western Lake Erie’s chronic algae problem: Researchers are now trying to develop a way to track the toxin known as microcystin in the blood of baby eagles.
Dave Best, a retired U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologist who spent 28 years doing mostly eagle research, said during a banding on an 800-acre wildlife refuge Friday that’s a new direction for wildlife science and underscores the continuing concern over the global rise of microcystis.
Microcystis isn’t the only form of algae that produces the potentially lethal neurotoxin microcystin. But it became western Lake Erie’s most dominant form when the modern era of algal blooms began in the summer of 1995.
PHOTO GALLERY: Researchers band eaglets
Lake Erie isn’t alone, though: Microcystis — which is 3.5 billion years old and one of the oldest living things on Earth — has been on the rise worldwide. Scientists believe its growth is being accelerated by climate change and invasive species.
Eagles have long been considered a barometer of ecosystem health, going back to when the national symbol was threatened by extinction years ago because of exposure to the pesticide DDT and when several eagles were found born with twisted beaks in the Great Lakes region in the 1990s.
Blood samples taken from chicks are usually analyzed for signs of cancer-causing DDT and PCBs, as well as lead, mercury, and other common pesticides and industrial chemicals. Eventually, Mr. Best said, researchers hope to use blood drawn from them to test for signs of microcystin, too.
Budget cuts have resulted in fewer bandings, though.
Ohio stopped banding eaglets years ago as the bird’s population rebounded, citing costs.
Michigan still bands. But researchers at Friday’s event acknowledged those days could be winding down in that state, too.
Two rapidly growing eaglets were found in a nest that has produced birds the last eight or nine years, a male that is only 47 days old and a female that is only 49 days old.
At least three adult eagles — the presumed parents, plus at least one other — circled overhead as the two juveniles were removed and returned to their nest moments later.
Mr. Best’s wife, Therese Best, who has been authorized by Michigan State University to help him band and take measurements since 2007, said crews are fast enough to get chicks returned to their nests within 10 minutes.
She said she sets up their sampling gear in the same place each time to move the process along.
“It doesn’t take much for that area to become mayhem,” Ms. Best said.
Eaglets grow so fast they take off on their own power — that is, fledge — in about 80 days, she said.
The two eaglets were brought down by the crew’s climber, Chris Persico, a wildlife biologist for Biodiversity Research Institute of Portland, Maine.
He said it’s an “exhilarating” experience scaling tall trees and being the first human that young eagles see up close.
“It’s definitely a rewarding job,” Mr. Persico, who started climbing trees in 2009, said.
Those involved with Friday’s banding got some good news: A new nest only about a quarter-mile away was found to be occupied. Eagles often don’t nest that close together, but will if there’s plenty of access to fish, turtles, and other food, officials said.
It’s another sign of a gradually improving ecosystem, despite the ongoing battle against algae, they said.
Mr. Persico was unable to scale that tree because it had heavy poison ivy growth. DTE Energy officials said they will have the poison ivy cut down so the tree can be climbed next year.
The wildlife refuge where researchers worked is near DTE’s massive coal-fired power plant near Monroe, one of the nation’s largest. A small portion of it is used by the utility to bury the plant’s fly ash, Jeffrey A. Hensley, DTE administration supervisor, said.
The site is inhabited by a large deer population, as well as coyotes and other animals, Mr. Hensley said.
Officials recently found a den with five baby coyotes, he said.
Contact Tom Henry at: thenry@theblade.com, 419-724-6079, or via Twitter @ecowriterohio.
First Published May 21, 2016, 4:00 a.m.
