General News
16 May, 2025
BARRY'S CORNER: Starvation and sea birds
For a human to walk or run a marathon is a big deal and one that we often underestimate as an act of exercise.
It takes a lot of training and building up the muscles over a long period.
For anyone who has run a marathon, they will understand the commitment and focus required to even make ready for the occasion.
That’s a daunting thought for any human and not to be taken lightly, but consider the ultra marathon epic, many of our sea birds put together when they undertake the amazing journey every year and move from southern Australia to the Siberian Arctic.
They gather into larger groups, and when conditions allow, they lift off and head north.
There are no cafes to call on for snacks along the way, and in the past, there was a series of wetlands dotted around different countries where the birds could call for some rest and a bit of feeding before the journey was continued.
One of the challenges now is the loss of many of the wetlands to the development of towns, roads, and farms.
Draining these wetlands has always been a problem for the migrating birds.
Because there is no alternate option to create a new feed zone.
Great care needs to be taken with any planning for development on or near the important wetland.
The wetland might appear to hold no activity, but potentially it could be teeming with wading birds.
Even though it will be vacant, somebody is sure to have a bright idea to slip a resort or industry, road or playground, so the land is lost for the waders.
This is happening across other countries with even less interest in looking after the waders, and the loss is incremental.
There are national and international agreements in place to protect the species, so while governments have made agreements, some of the people on the ground are not always concerned about the ruling.
This is one of the reasons migrating species have trouble completing such a tortuous journey, there has been less opportunity to resupply.
Whole rafts of birds collapse and end up dead in the ocean.
We could expect such a journey to sap the energy of the birds after an ultra marathon, but we are placing handicaps on them by taking out key feeding sites.