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About Cannon Beach gazette. (Cannon Beach, Or.) 1977-current | View Entire Issue (June 29, 2018)
10A • June 29, 2018 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com Donations to fund puffin research at Haystack Rock Study will be first on the coast By Brenna Visser Cannon Beach Gazette Tufted puffins have been on the decline at Haystack Rock for decades, and no one really understands why. This summer, a $15,000 donation from the Friends of Haystack Rock will enable the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to study what factors are keeping puffin popula- tions low. The research will be the first of its kind on the Oregon Coast. “We really need to collect more data and it has taken a long time for us to do that,” said Shawn Stephensen, a wildlife biologist with the Or- egon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex. “This gives us the opportunity to do that.” More than half of the re- search money can be attribut- ed to the “Protect our Puffins” sweatshirt campaign started last summer by John Un- derwood, a Friends of Hay- stack Rock board member and longtime Cannon Beach homeowner. It started with Underwood questioning why, every sum- mer when he came back to visit Cannon Beach, there were fewer and fewer puffins flocking around the rock. He partnered with the awareness program to design and donate a few dozen sweatshirts to sell around the community, with the hope profits would even- tually go toward education and research. A year later, the idea raised more than $9,000. “I was hoping it would do well, but I didn’t know what to expect,” Underwood said. “I’m happy people care.” While Haystack Rock is COLIN MURPHEY/THE DAILY ASTORIAN Olivia Goward peers through a scope looking for puffins and other birds at Cannon Beach. LOU SOLITSKE A puffin over Haystack Rock. still home to Oregon’s largest tufted puffin colony, along the Oregon Coast the species has steadily declined from about 5,000 birds nesting 20 years ago to just a few hundred to- day. Researchers have theo- rized factors such as rising ocean temperatures and lack of accessible prey could be causing the die-off, but hav- en’t had resources to test it. The donations will pur- chase five transmitters, which will be attached to puffins and track where exactly the elu- sive seabirds go in the win- ter. Researchers also plan to take blood and fecal samples, which will be used to analyze what the birds eat and whether the colony on Haystack Rock is genetically unique from other tufted puffins. Answering these questions will bring the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service closer to fig- uring out why the puffin pop- ulation on Haystack Rock has dropped from 368 in 2010 to the just over 100 today. Researchers are also hop- ing this information can build a case for listing the tufted puffin as endangered in Or- Owner/Principal Broker c: 503.440.3202 f: 877.812.1126 e: alainagiguiere@mac.com #1 in sales 2016 and 2017 CoastalAdvantage.com Beats out the beloved puffin egon. The listing would help the bird qualify for more re- search funding, which ulti- mately could help save the dwindling population, Ste- phensen said. The Washing- ton Department of Fish and Wildlife voted to put the puf- fin on the endangered species list three years ago. With funding in place, the next challenge will be physi- cally attaching the transmit- ters and collecting the sam- ples. This August, Stephensen and his team will have a two- week window to catch and sample multiple puffins. Re- searchers will have to do this by boat at night, when puffins are often rafting on the water near Haystack Rock, by the light of a spotlight and the grace of luck. “That will be the tricky part,” Stephensen said. But it’s a labor of love Ste- phensen is ready to take on, as he is hoping this will be the first of several projects. “This study will be instru- mental in helping us make a determination on whether list- ing the puffin is warranted” he said. Future research will take more money, however, a chal- lenge the Friends of Haystack Rock will continue to take on, Board President Stacy Bene- field said. “This is something new for us,” Benefield said. “We’ve never funded research like this before. We hope to keep participating to protect our puffins.” Underwood said the board is working with the Audubon Society and other environ- mental groups to try and sell more sweatshirts outside of the local area. “I’m really happy this has generated a lot of enthu- siasm,” Underwood said. “Now, we need to extend our reach.” Alaina Giguiere Coastal Advantage Red-winged blackbird wins city recognition By Brenna Visser Cannon Beach Gazette After months in limbo, the red-winged blackbird will take the title of Cannon Beach’s official city bird. City councilors brought the proposal to a work ses- sion June 12 after voting to postpone a proclamation last month that would have promoted the medium-sized, black-and-red songbird. The idea was to give the public a chance to raise any concerns over the pick, or to suggest a different species. But alas — the tufted puffin lobby was silent. “Is there anyone here on behalf of the puffins?” City Councilor George Vetter asked with a smile. Nominating the red- winged blackbird was brought to the city council in April by Neal Maine, a longtime nature photogra- pher and representative of the 12 Days of Earth Day committee. The group want- ed the city to recognize an official bird to honor the 100th anniversary of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, a landmark federal law that protects dozens of species of birds. This bird was cho- sen because they are abun- dant and represent the local ecology, Maine said. Rec- ognizing the birds would also hold historical value as many live on the Little Pompey Wetland - a marsh named after the son of Sa- cagawea from the Lewis and Clark Expedition by Cannon Beach Elementary School fifth-graders more than 20 years ago. Part of the reason coun- cilors delayed the proclama- tion was in response to some in the community asking why the town’s iconic bird Marty Giguiere Owner/Broker c: 503.440.7676 o: 503.436.1777 e: mr007@pacifier.com Egrane Brown Susan Tone Broker c: 503.440.1648 e: egranebrown@gmail.com Broker c: 503.354.4072 e: susantone@nehalemtel.net Andrea Mace Geri Lane Hilary Herman Broker c. 503-440-4024 e: Andrea.k.mace@remax.net Broker c: 503.741.0007 e: gerilane@remax.net Broker c: 503-791-4718 e: HilaryHerman@hotmail.com Shelley Parker Cheryl Johnson Abbas Atwi Broker c: 503-739-1977 e: Shelley.Parker@mail.com Broker c: 503-739-1977 e: Cheryl.Johnson@remax.net Broker c: 503-310-8464 e: Abbas.atwi@remax.net Member of 2 MLS Systems Each office is independently owned & operated All brokers listed are licensed in the State of Oregon 571 ANTLER 82927 HWY 53 89234 MANION DR + S 31 RE C A LI NE ST W IN G 188 FERNWOOD LI NE ST W IN G — the tufted puffin — was not chosen. The council asked Maine if puffins were considered. “No, we didn’t really consider the puffin. It wasn’t about the puffin,” Maine said. “Though it has been portrayed as a kind of battle of the birds.” Maine reiterated that the committee believes the red- winged blackbird deserves the visibility more than the elusive tufted puffin, which only nest on Haystack Rock a few months a year. The bird will always be an icon and already has the Hay- stack Rock Awareness Pro- gram protecting their inter- ests, Maine said. Without hearing any strong objections, the coun- cil unanimously decided to schedule the proclamation for next month. For Mayor Sam Steidel, the tension between the red- winged blackbird and tufted puffin was described suc- cinctly in a letter from a for- mer Cannon Beach Elemen- tary School student who was a part of the Little Pompey Wetland project. “Puffins are second homeowners,” Steidel quot- ed from the letter. “But the red-winged blackbirds are the residents.” Broker c. 503.440.9280 e: maryanns@remax.net 219 N. 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