Eastern Shore Refuge celebrates Memorial Day with a World War II relic

Memorial Day Weekend at the Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge allowed 200 visitors to touch a piece of history as the refuge welcomed a relic of World War II.

On Saturday, May 25, the refuge held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the newest addition, a 120-ton, 68-foot gun barrel that was on the USS Missouri when the Japanese surrendered on September 2, 1945, ending World War II.

The 68-foot gun barrel made its final trip to the refuge from Cape Charles in early April. It was restored before the ribbon cutting. Credit: USFWS

During World War II, the refuge was the site of Fort John Custis. Fort Custis along with Fort Story across the bay in Virginia Beach protected the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.  One of the John Custis bunkers known as Battery Winslow housed two 16-inch guns, guarding the southern tip of the Delmarva Peninsula as stoically as the loblolly pines guard the maritime forest today.  When World War II came to an end and the guns were no longer needed for defense, they were scrapped, becoming pieces of history living only through memory and a few photographs.

While the barrels housed in the Winslow Battery on Fort Custis were destroyed, not all experienced the same fate. Some were retired after the war, put aside and forgotten. One barrel came off of the U.S.S. Missouri Battleship, Barrel #393 was placed on the Missouri toward the end of WWII. It was present during the surrender of the Japanese and went on to defend our troops throughout the Korean War.

The day of the ribbon cutting, visitors went on to watch, as Battery Winslow became the official home of Barrel #393.

Representatives from the U.S. Army and the U.S. Navy were speakers as well as a representative from the Battleship Missouri Memorial who was visiting all the way from Hawaii. Veterans from all branches of the military made their way around the barrel and through the battery as they greeted one another and took in the living history. Both Winslow Battery and Barrel #393 were recognized as important defenders of the U.S. during World War II.

One very special guest, Alan Stanz, a U.S. Navy veteran and retired U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employee opened the ceremony with a gorgeous rendition of the national anthem on his saxophone.  Alan Stanz was the visitor services manager at the refuge when he heard about Barrel #393 two years ago. The day of the ceremony, Stanz was able to see his vision become a reality.

Former Service employee and U.S. Navy veteran, Alan Stanz, at the ribbon cutting. Stanz was instrumental in working to get the gun barrel to the refuge and was able to see his vision become a reality. Credit: USFWS

We may be reminded on the refuge that sanctuary has not always been an option.  The soldiers who gave their lives fought in places of terror and chaos, where jungles, deserts and seas have been battlegrounds in the pursuit of peace.

As Barrel #393 has found a home on this National Wildlife Refuge, may the veterans returning from war also find tranquility on refuges throughout the nation where they can breathe in the beauty of our nation and feel the freedom they have risked their lives to provide.  May the memories of fallen soldiers come to life for future visitors to the Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge.  Just as we pause and listen for the call of a songbird in the canopy, we also pause to give thanks to those who fought for places like this.

Submitted by Jennifer Lewis, visitor services specialist at the Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge

Why do our bald eagles have high levels of lead, mercury?

A recently released report shows that toxic levels of mercury and lead were found in the livers of bald eagle carcasses recovered in New England. The researchers, Steve Mierzykowski of our Maine Field Office, Charles Todd of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, and Mark Pokras of Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, share their insights with us today.

Steve Mierzykowski, a senior fish and wildlife biologist in our Maine Field Office, holds an immature bald eagle. Credit: USFWS

What did they find?

Between 2001 and 2012, the researchers collected liver samples from 127 bald eagle carcasses from Connecticut, Maine (mostly), Massachusetts and New Hampshire. They analyzed the liver tissue for lead and mercury. 14 percent had lead concentrations indicative of poisoning. Other North America eagle studies report similar or higher percentages. The average mercury level (13.49 parts per million dry weight) was higher than average levels recorded in eagles from British Columbia, several Great Lakes states and Alaska. Check out the rest of the report.

Q. Why are we concerned about lead and mercury levels in eagles? A. Lead and mercury are both potentially long-lasting in the environment. At low levels of exposure, their direct influence may go unnoticed.

However, long-lived animals like bald eagles may suffer from chronic accumulations that eventually impair their reproduction or survival. Lead is rapidly mobilized in an eagle’s gastrointestinal tract. Certain bacteria can methylate mercury: the new organic by-product, methylmercury, passes through the food web in increasing concentrations to top-level predators like eagles.

An X-ray of this bald eagle shows lead in its gizzards — see the bottom right of the eagle’s body. Credit: Mark Pokras, Tufts University

Although we have a good understanding of the acutely toxic effects of lead on bald eagles (and other species), we feel that it is particularly important to enhance our understanding of chronic, low-level effects. Lead has significant effects on the brain, heart, kidneys and many other organ systems. There are indications that such levels may predispose eagles to traumatic injury as well as impairing reproduction and survival.

Documenting the effects of toxic materials like lead and mercury in charismatic species like bald eagles can also help to alert policy makers and the public to current and emerging wildlife health threats.

Q. What has interested or surprised you during your research on this topic? A. High exposure rates to mercury to bald eagles in Maine were a surprise to many.

Point sources for mercury contamination are more often associated with industrialized regions, but this contaminant does circulate widely in the atmosphere. Maine is downwind of many industrialized regions of North America.

The high rate of exposure to lead among Maine eagles during fall, winter and spring is also troubling. Whether this is an artifact of increasing eagle numbers in the state, or possibly related to milder winters so that more eagles remain in the state year round, it is clear that scavenging carrion that may contain lead is a risk for eagles during periods of the year when ice cover restricts normal fishing habits of Maine eagles.

Another photo showing lead in a bald eagle. See the right side of the photo. Credit: Mark Pokras, Tufts University

Extracted livers from a bald eagle. Livers are useful tissues for assessing contaminant exposure in wildlife because contaminants readily accumulate and concentrate there. Credit: USFWS

All eagle carcasses for this study were examined while in transfer to the National Eagle Repository. Credit: USFWS

 

Q. Will you continue to study these levels in eagles? A. As budgets allow, we will continue to investigate contaminant levels in bald eagles. Lead, mercury and newly emerging contaminants like flame retardants will be measured in tissues of bald eagle when funds are available. The monitoring plan for bald eagles (after their recovery under the Endangered Species Act) has a contaminant component, and everyone recognizes that keeping track of contaminant levels over time and periodically assessing these levels are important to the species.

Because eagles are a highly charismatic species that sparks great public interest, and because they sit atop the food chain in a variety of habitats, bald eagles are an important sentinel species for representing a variety of environmental threats. Lead, mercury and other contaminants are known to affect their health, and the health of a wide variety of other species.

Q. How might people be able to help reduce this problem in the long term? A. Clearly, more research and public education are needed regarding non-toxic bullets, shot and other sporting gear, such as fishing weights. Unrecovered lead bullets and shotgun pellets in animal carcasses present a continuing health threat to scavenging species like the bald eagle.

See other contaminants research from our Maine office, including contaminants in crossed bill bald eagles, in eagles at Acadia park and our Maine coastal refuges, in eagle eggs and brook trout.

Live from New York, it’s Kali the Bear!

After a cross-country flight last week, Kali the orphaned polar bear cub was a bit tired, but seemed no worse for the wear.

He remained calm and alert during the trip from Anchorage to Buffalo, and enjoyed his regular feedings inflight.

Kali arrives at Buffalo Zoo.

Kali rests after a long flight.

Kali guards teddy bear.

Watch Kali play with Luna!

Four northeast region U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees were on hand Wednesday morning to welcome the zoo’s newest resident. The Service has official responsibility and ownership of Kali, because polar bears are a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.

Tom Roster, refuge manager at nearby Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge; Kofi Fynn-Aikins, project leader at Lower Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office; Scott Saunders, fisheries biologist; and D.J. Monette, Northeast Region Native American liaison, attended the press event.

“We arrived early and the director of the zoo gave us a special tour. We got to see Kali, a cute little cub,” said Fynn-Aikins, who spoke at the event on behalf of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Left to right: Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge refuge manager Tom Roster, The Alaska Zoo curator Shannon Jensen, UPS assistant chief pilot Captain Jon Burrows, Lower Great Lakes Fisheries project leader Kofi Fynn-Aikins, and Alaska Zoo executive director Patrick Lampi. Credit: D.J. Monette/USFWS

Kali will soon be sharing space with another polar bear cub, a female named Luna. “The zoo director told us that through their sense of smell and vocalizations that the two cubs are aware of each other,” said Fynn-Aikins.

But before they are introduced, Kali will get some rest without visitors to give him a chance to adjust to his new surroundings. Caretakers also want to observe him to make sure the stress from the trip did not trigger any medical issues.

Meanwhile, Luna entertained at the press conference, which was held in front of her enclosure. “She was having a lot of fun playing. She stole the show from us!” said Fynn-Aikins.

Kali is not the first polar bear cub rescued from the Northern Slope of Alaska and moved to the Lower 48. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service previously joined forces with the Alaska Zoo and UPS in 2011 to move “Qannik” — Inupiat for “snowflake” —  to the Louisville Zoo in Kentucky.