Local sea birds fall victim to July 4th fireworks

Just days after we ran a story about a NorCal town banning fireworks to save wildlife, young birds here in SoCal were scared right out of the trees during the annual fireworks extravaganzas that rim the Santa Monica Bay. Local marine animal rescue groups report finding numerous birds after this year's displays, some dead or injured, others alive but helpless.

In the photo is one of several young great blue herons knocked from their nests by the blasts in Marina del Rey. This heron, too young to fly, was snapped in an apartment courtyard just moments before a rescue group arrived. The bird will be fostered and, if it survives, released.

What do you think - is this a serious issue, or much ado about nothing? Are fireworks worth the risk?

--Veronique de Turenne

Photo: Peter Wallerstein / Marine Animal Rescue

Comments

[Capo Annie]

I wonder if cities and organizations are going to have second thoughts about lavish fireworks shows after reading about the lingering particulate pollution, unexploded ordnance (a show at Jones Beach) and costs of such extravaganzas!

I prefer watching on TV and not having to witness the real thing!

[Donna Barstow]

This picture makes my hair stand on end. Talk about bad juxtaposition.

[Bob]

I've been thinking about the appropriateness of Fireworks to celebrate with given the concerns of global warming, and now, this new information on the danger to wildlife. I wish we could find some other way to demonstrate our patriotism or another way to excite us at these times... How about laser shows? Still dangerous? Maybe. There must be another way... Maybe Santa Monica-style Old Fashioned 4th of July...

[Matthew]

Do we really need fireworks at all? Is it possible that there are better ways to celebrate things without explosions?

[mute]

i think it is OBVIOUSLY a serious issue! we really truly need to consider the affects we have on wildlife and other animals in everything we do. those poor creatures have to suffer just so we can see some pretty lights in the sky? i agree with the other comments, do we really even need fireworks? our family had a nice 4th without seeing them at all.

[Mike]

Not only do fireworks harm local wildlife (as well as strike fear in pets everywhere), but the ancillary dangers of fire are a real threat not only to wildlife, but to homeowners as well (a hillside in Thousand Oaks caught fire behind the Oaks Mall due to a fireworks show and had to be put out by fire crews). Then there's the smoke and particulate matter added to our already dirty air. Fireworks are beautiful, yes, but unnecessary in this day and age. How ironic that at a time when most Americans are sick of the Iraq war and of seeing images of death and destruction caused by explosives, that we celebrate Independence Day with "the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air." The safety of wildlife alone is a justifiable reason to cancel fireworks shows, at least in sensitive areas. But there are so many other good reasons as well.

[Tim]

I like fireworks.

[Gary Kirkland]

A syllogism applies to this issue. First premise: humans are part of nature. Second premise: what humans do is natural. Conclusion: fireworks are part of nature. Wildlife that dies as a result of fireworks are not fit and should become extinct. This is a basic part of the theory of evolution.

[Lola Terrell]

It's easy to use some 'intellectual theory' to absolve oneself of responsibility for the great harm of many human activities. Fireworks will be going the way of the dinosaurs - not to imply that the 4th of July should not be celebrated in a communal and festive way. With all of our technological advances, we will surely come up with a more environmentally friendly way to celebrate the 4th of July. Change can, will and does happen, as humans' consciousness evolves to more earth-friendly ways of being and doing. It can be hard to see or accept that, when we tend to like our traditions and their familiarity (i.e. especially when someone's livelihood is based on an 'old' way that is becoming outmoded). But changing our July 4th celebrations to more human/creature and earth friendly technologies will definitely be a step in the right direction.

[Marcia]

Mike's post is interesting, as I was just reading some comments from war veterans who hate fireworks displays, as the sounds bring flashbacks to some very traumatizing moments.

That same trauma is happening to the wildlife. Birds we can see, but what about all of the other life in the Ballona Creek estuary and the adjacent Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve? Those tiny eardrums could be bursting, but no one is studying this.

And the debris and toxic chemicals spewing into the air and the water can't be good for any of us - wildlife or human - either!

[Vaderkit]

I was walking on the beach in Playa del Rey the day after the fireworks.
I saw a dead bird washed up by the small jetty at Toes.
I thought it was a Gull as I have seen this before.
No, it was a type of Egret or Heron... These are not sea birds and they do not hang out at the beach. I am convinced it was a result of the fireworks.
And the fireworks in the Marina were unusully loud, with many extremely loud booms at the end.. Deafening, really.
Oh yes, all animals in the vicinity were impacted. There is no doubt.

These are fragile times for wildlife and nature. And humans, but we did create all this, didn't we?
Lets be more conscious and let the past be the past...we do not need fireworks anymore.
If we must, could we move the fireworks to the middle of the city where mostly humans will be impacted? Oh, and the air.

[Concerned resident - end fireworks now]

Having fireworks around local wildlife is cruel. It's like 9/11 for them when they go off. They figure they're being bombed, just as we would if explosions went off when we weren't expecting it and continued for half an hour unabated. And July 4th is perhaps the worst as it's in the middle of breeding season w/young birds in nests as noted with the baby heron.

In an era of rapid and massive species extinction the last thing we should be doing is helping to harm animals. Fireworks are an entertainment, they're not necessary but wildlife is. If anything let the celebrations be held on High School football fields or other areas in the city proper that is wildlife spare as possible.