Posted with permission from the Hamilton Spectator
____________________________________________________
That Santa Claus on an island in Hamilton harbour may seem like someone's idea of a joke, but there is a serious purpose behind the red-suited scarecrow.
In fact, it's so serious there are now three Santas on Neare Island, just south of Eastport Drive.
Two more Santas were added in April by researchers from the McMaster biology department to help frighten cormorants away from the nests of herring gulls. The research project began in 2006 and, for a time, featured an electronic singing and dancing Santa to keep the cormorants away.
McMaster biologist Jim Quinn said Wednesday there remain about 130 pairs of herring gulls in the harbour, compared to 4,000 pairs of cormorants. He and other researchers are also working to keep cormorants off two other harbour islands to help the gulls breed.
"I think it's quite an accomplishment to have protected (Neare) island," said Quinn. "If we had not been doing that management we would have lost that island. The persistence is paying off."
The Hamilton Spectator
____________________________________________________
That Santa Claus on an island in Hamilton harbour may seem like someone's idea of a joke, but there is a serious purpose behind the red-suited scarecrow.
In fact, it's so serious there are now three Santas on Neare Island, just south of Eastport Drive.
Two more Santas were added in April by researchers from the McMaster biology department to help frighten cormorants away from the nests of herring gulls. The research project began in 2006 and, for a time, featured an electronic singing and dancing Santa to keep the cormorants away.
McMaster biologist Jim Quinn said Wednesday there remain about 130 pairs of herring gulls in the harbour, compared to 4,000 pairs of cormorants. He and other researchers are also working to keep cormorants off two other harbour islands to help the gulls breed.
"I think it's quite an accomplishment to have protected (Neare) island," said Quinn. "If we had not been doing that management we would have lost that island. The persistence is paying off."
The Hamilton Spectator
