In May 1995, despite public opposition, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) began poisoning sea gulls on Monomoy Island Refuge in Chatham on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The poisoned sea gulls flocked inland to fresh-water ponds to die, not staying on the island where they could be tidily disposed of as they were supposed to. Though the 2,850 targeted pairs of great black-backed and herring gulls were supposed to perish quietly within 48 hours, some took as long as ten days to die of thirst and renal failure. Obviously stressed and suffering, the gulls were euthanized by local wildlife groups wanting to hasten a process that had been obviously botched and incompetent. "We don't have any answer why that would be happening," Diane Weaver, FWS spokeswoman, claimed when confronted by citizens upset by the gulls prolonged and pitiful deaths in fresh-water sources.

Of the 1,185 herring and 726 black-backed gulls found, 35 percent perished on the mainland. Given the close to 6,000 birds targeted, this left a substantial number unaccounted for, probably lost at sea.

The plan to create a "gull-free" zone to enhance nesting opportunities for the endangered piping plover and roseate terns is politically motivated. The black-backed and herring gull populations have actually been decreasing in recent years in Massachusetts due to the state-mandated closing of landfills and a decline in the fishing industry, both major food sources for scavenger birds. As the protected piping plover is also on the upsurge statewide and in the national seashore just north of the refuge, some might wonder why there is a need for this heavy-handed assault on the gull in order to create "avian diversity."

Off Road Vehicle (ORV) enthusiasts, a powerful lobby in the state, are the political force behind the ill conceived "management" plan underway on the Monomoy Island Refuge, the only designated wilderness area in Massachusetts, manipulated in order to serve short-sighted human interests. The ORV enthusiasts, upset by the closing of many Massachusetts beaches during the nesting season for piping plovers would be appeased if numbers of nesting plovers could be drastically increased, thus reducing pressure on other Cape Cod beaches which could then be reopened.

Local environmentalists initially expressed concerns over the poisoning project, predicting that the birds would not stay confined and would pose hazards to water supplies and other wildlife. To this, FWS's Weaver responded arrogantly, "People don't understand what it's about. They tend to anthro- pomorphize."

Some "experts" condemn the gull as a pest and a "flying rat," a rather elitist view of a useful forager that cleans the beaches and has been a part of the ecosystem of Cape Code for generations.

Monomoy is located in Nantucket Sound, a short distance off Chatham's southern coast. Last May, FWS personnel, supervised by three staff members from the Animal Damage Control program, placed bread cubes laced with the avicide DRC 1339 in the birds' nests. Then FWS workers, wearing hip boots and rubber gloves and carrying black plastic trash bags, moved down the shoreline, picking up the bodies of the gulls that had succumbed to the poison. For the duration of the poisoning, 350 acres on South Monomoy Island were closed to the public. Protesters were threatened with arrest and imprisonment if they set foot on the island.

Meanwhile, on the mainland, FWS officials at first discouraged the euthanizing of dying birds, asserting that the public didn't know what was best for wildlife. When confronted with the extent of the damage they had caused, however, they joined the volunteers.

Those who warned that the avicide was not as benign and species-specific as claimed by the service had their misgivings confirmed. Not only did the gulls take far longer than 48 hours (as the FWS claimed) to die in an obviously agonized and painful way, but concerned citizens discovered that the pesticide is banned in two states. The compound, a chlorinated hydrocarbon marketed under a variety of names, is toxic to a broad spectrum of animals and was banned in 1996 in Missouri and California, both of which are agricultural states. Reasons for the ban include the poison's inability to break down and it's toxic affects, which are also of concern to Cape Codders who are surrounded on three sides by ocean.

Public opposition, including demonstrations and threats of civil disobedience by Earth First! activists has cost the agency $18,500 a day, and caused the FWS, on January 31, 1997, to announce the postponement of the poisoning program. An additional cost included the need to provide extra security. The poisoning program was to have cost a total of $120,000 to kill between 5,000 and 7,000 birds over four years. Though the poisoning has been suspended for the above reasons, reports are that the FWS plans to continue the harassment of the gull population through alternative means, including shooting.

If you'd like more information on the seagull poisonings, contact: Provincetown Earth First!, 401 1/2 Commercial Street, Provincetown, MA, 02657; ph: (508) 487-9513.