It’s been a dry, scorching summer season. Good time of yr for a dip in Lake Washington.
Downside is, a few of Seattle’s prime swimming seashores have been routinely closed.
Madison Park, Magnuson, Pritchard Island — all posted with keep out of the water warnings by Public Health — Seattle & King County.
The possible wrongdoer, say county officers, is poop. Extra particularly, excessive concentrations of micro organism from waterfowl droppings.
This isn’t a brand new phenomenon round right here. Seattle Parks & Recreation is conscious of the problem and is taking steps to decrease the numbers of Canada geese specifically. That’s the excellent news. Merely put, the town can’t permit its finest watering holes to change into summerlong poisonous stews.
Public Well being interprets water high quality take a look at outcomes and makes the choice about when to briefly shut a seashore.
The testing is carried out weekly through the swim season. Some seashores have persistently higher water high quality than others, and there are various completely different variables. Every seashore in annually will be completely different.
As of final week, Madison Park and Pritchard Island Seashore have been closed for 3 weeks, open for 9. Magnuson has been closed for 2 weeks, open for 10. Earlier this week, all three had been closed for swimming.
What a seashore bummer.
Again in 2003, this newspaper ran a narrative with the headline: “Goose inhabitants drops 75 p.c in Seattle parks.”
This was the outcome after federal wildlife brokers destroyed greater than 5,600 geese in Seattle when a federal decide dominated that the federal government may kill the birds in moveable fuel chambers arrange on the again of vans. Yikes.
Today, Seattle Parks and different entities round Lake Washington — that is removed from a Seattle-only drawback — take part in a federal Division of Agriculture program that sends brokers out to rely geese and douse their eggs in corn oil, which prevents their hatching.
As well as, lifeguards and upkeep crews work to wash up and eliminate goose poop on seashores, shorelines, and docks in order that it doesn’t enter the water and contaminate it.
All good efforts.
Canada geese are good birds and shortly get smart to scarecrows, flags, and many others.
As famous by the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife: “As a result of geese study that actual bodily hazard isn’t related to harassment and scare gadgets, the birds will rapidly study to disregard them, regardless of how efficient these gadgets could also be initially.”
The division recommends noisemakers, canines, lasers, and “taste-aversion merchandise and different chemical repellents.”
All the above, please. Give Seattle swimmers again their seashores.
