Nets Removed from Venoco Pier
By Aquaholic
And in better news....never forget that a small voice can make a difference amidst the cacophony of bureaucracy, greed, and apathy. Thanks to any and all who called in to report these violations!
2 weeks ago, Bob and I went for a stroll down the coast, along one of our fave places to walk Luke. To my horror, the undersides of the defunct Venoco (filed chapter 11 and is getting the boot from the SB coast) oil piers had been wrapped with a fine gauge plastic netting, thus destroying and thwarting the annual nesting efforts of our Swallows...a protected bird species in Calif.
We tried like heck to free those unfortunate birds who had wiggled through the maze of netting and got entrapped, to no avail. I immediately came home and began with an appeal on our hyper-local online news source, Edhat, and got some good advice on how to proceed. Calls were made to: local Wildlife Care Network, Dept. of Fish & Wildlife, SB Co. Game Warden and so on.
Today I was so thrilled to see all the netting has been removed. Sadly, I did not see a single Swallow, despite seeing hundreds of desperate, frantic ones 2 weeks ago. I hope they are just freaked out and will return, as they always do, to build their nests and raise their young.
Past Articles
- April 21, 2019: Swallows Entrapped in Nets on Venoco Pier
16 Comments
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Apr 30, 2019 03:55 PMThanks Ed for gleaning this story from Facebook. I didn't personally submit this news, but I did tag Edhat on my personal FB page, so I appreciate you following up, and posting this, especially to anyone concerned about the Swallows.
I sincerely hope LILBIRD is wrong, but I fear the swallows may have moved on. It was pretty shocking to not see a single bird under, or around the piers. I'm going to check on them again soon.
I really don't know exactly when the netting was removed, but as I walked up to them I was beyond thrilled to see it gone.
Yay for the little guys!
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Apr 30, 2019 11:04 AMHere is an article about bird netting, including a poll... https://focusingonwildlife.com/news?mailpoet_router&endpoint=track&action=click&data=WyI5MDQzIiwiNWQxMTJiIiwiODE4IiwiNWRkNjI3NGJhOWU2IixmYWxzZV0
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Apr 30, 2019 10:43 AMThank you Aquaholic! What an uplifting story and great example.
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Apr 30, 2019 10:27 AMThank you, Aquaholic and anyone else who worked to get rid of those nets! I've been reading about the nets in the U.K. Thousands of birds are dying because of them. It's up to us to be stewards of this Earth and to be kind to the other sentient beings we share it with. Protect, Protect, Conserve our wonderful wildlife! Thank you. #Bekindtowiildlife
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Apr 30, 2019 08:47 AMMany thanks to the GREAT people who got the netting removed. But there should be punishment & fines to the CRUEL IDIOTS (can I say that?) who caused this swallow colony “of hundreds” to collapse. This moronic behavior by humans is why species are crashing. That colony is toast. Laws were broken when those babies were netted over. Miles of migration & nest building & feeding by the parents... all down the drain. For what... to save an ugly bankrupt pier to nowhere? There should be jail time served. And the public should be educated from this inexcusable despicable tragedy.
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Apr 30, 2019 08:41 AMThank you Aquaholic for seeing the problem and working until it was fixed.
We need to all do more of that.
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Apr 30, 2019 08:33 AMReminds me of those commercials you see about "Humankindness". Sometimes the good people win!
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Apr 29, 2019 11:39 PMThank you, Aquaholic and ALL!
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Apr 29, 2019 10:49 PMWe all must protect and defend our voiceless fellow Earthlings. Oh, how I do love it when people take the time to show compassion and concern for animals in need. Thank you, Aquaholic, for being one of the good guys/gals.
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Apr 29, 2019 08:55 PMpocket knives are truly handy!
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Apr 30, 2019 10:27 AMDang! I collect buoys and I'm always looking for them!
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Apr 30, 2019 10:26 AMDang! I collect buoys and I'm always looking for them!
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Apr 29, 2019 10:45 PM2856, 8:55 PM. Darn right. I have two Swiss army knives in my daypack and they sure come in handy at the beach. A while back I managed to cut loads of kelp off some beached lobster buoys and yards and yard of plastic rope. It took some doing, but I left a pile of kelp on the sand, freeing the plastic line and buoys and hauled this beach "litter" about 3/4 mile down the beach. Those buoys now grace a friend's backyard.
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Apr 29, 2019 08:16 PMWonderful work, Aquaholic, Edhat, and all who called and helped remove those nets!
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Apr 29, 2019 07:00 PMNice job, Aquaholic.
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Apr 29, 2019 06:37 PMGood Job Aquaholic you saved the flock...