Depoe Bay, OR - seaside city cancels 4th of July Fireworks

Mail Online/Daily Mail Reporter, 7/3/12.  "Small village forced to cancel Independence Day fireworks show because it distrubs the BIRDS nesting nearby."

Avoid scary fireworks

Fly by Pacifica

A small seaside village in Oregon was forced to cancel its Independence Day fireworks display that has been a lifeblood for local businesses -- and this decision was for the birds.  

Depoe Bay has attracted hundreds of visitors every July 3 for nearly 20 years with a pyrotechnics show that filled its small motels and brought diners into its restaurants.  But now, the US Fish and Wildlife Service has demanded a halt to the fireworks because they disturb nearby seabird nests . 

Happy 4th of July!

Depoe Bay here we come

In 2010, a resident called the federal agency to report that the explosion of the rockets over Pirates Cove sent flocks of bird fleeing their nests in terror, the Oregonian reports. 

The next year, regulators studied the behavior of the fowl, such as the Brandt's Cormorant, during the fireworks show. They used aerial photography, video footage and observers on the ground watching the nests, as well. They discovered some of the cormorants fled their nests and returned to find that predators had destroyed or damaged their eggs.  Read Article.

Related -  Depoe Bay Chamber of Commerce. .  Oregon visitors Association/Depoe Bay.  Brandt's Cormorant.

Posted by Kathy Meeh