A tailings lake
This is a picture of the tailings ‘pond’ where over 1600 birds died near Fort McMurray, Alberta. The video above shows a few of those birds. This is so large, Syncrude itself has renamed it a ‘basin’.
These birds represent a fraction that have died here and in other tailings ponds and basins throughout this region. Each spring, more than half of America’s birds migrate to this area. This small corridor provides nesting ground for over 300 species of birds.
“Danger In the Nursery: Impact on Birds of Tar Sands Oil Development in Canada’s Boreal Forest” talks about the consequences on migratory birds:
The projected strip-mining of 740,000 acres (300,000 hectares) of forests and wetlands in the tar sands will result in the loss of breeding habitatfor between 480,000 and 3.6 million adult birds. The corresponding impact on breeding will mean a loss of 4.8 million to 36 million young birds over a 20-year period, and 9.6 million to 72 million birds over a 40-year period.
To read about Syncrude Canada Ltd and its waterfowl program which includes such tactics as scarecrows and water cannons click here. Will the birds hear or see the warnings before making their final descent from hundreds of feet above? Or will they be too tired and hungry after flying thousands of miles?
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This is really sad to know about these migrant birds. This is another human negligence and i think we need to work on it seriously. Otherwise we will loose these lovely and huge birds like this only. This video is really shocking.
Yes, I agree – people need to take action and put pressure on corporations that are funding these projects.