As one of the most vital bird habitats in the Western Hemisphere, the Great Salt Lake is a sanctuary to more than 12 million birds, representing more than 330 species. White pelicans, snowy plovers, tundra swans, eared grebes and California gulls, along with hundreds of other bird varieties, rely on the lake’s ecosystem.
Used for feeding, resting during migration, breeding and nesting, the Great Salt Lake is an avian refuge facing a dire future as water levels drops and salinity rises.
Trish Ackley has worked on Antelope Island State Park as a park ranger and naturalist for 12 years, with the Utah Department of Natural Resources. Antelope Island is the largest island located in the Great Salt Lake, home to bison, bobcats, mule deer, waterfowl and more.
As the lake’s level continues to recede, Ackley said every bird that migrates or nests in the area will be affected.
“The pelicans are the most obvious because we don’t see them nesting on Gunnison Island anymore. They were trying to nest on the causeway, which is not ideal,” she said. “[The migratory birds] are traveling long distances and this is an important stop for all of them. Where do they go if the lake’s not here?”
Eared grebes have been in the news the past few years because of the thousands of birds that have died and washed up on the shoreline. Some of these birds die from the strenuous journey, others die from avian flu and a few years ago, the cause was botulism. While she cares about the grebes, she said the raptor population has been hit hard because they eat the sick birds, then die themselves. She said the Great Horned Owls have been heavily affected this year.
Ron Dudley is a retired biology high school teacher who took up bird photography as a way to educate and inform. His Feathered Photography blog features articles and pictures about birds in Utah and other Western states. He spends a lot of time in the Great Salt Lake wetlands, documenting the birds who live on and migrate through the lake.
“They’re so beautiful and their behaviors are so utterly fascinating,” Dudley said. “The lake’s surface area has shrunk and that means the number of birds is going down. I wrote a daily blog on bird photography and I can’t do that anymore. I can’t find the birds. Now I’m posting twice a week when it used to be every day.”
Dudley has witnessed thousands of grebes on the Great Salt Lake, as far as his eyes could see, resting from their migratory journey but he hasn’t seen those numbers on the lake in a long time.
He said not a single breeding pair of pelicans has successfully hatched chicks on Gunnison Island. In the past, the island was a haven for the pelicans because it kept away predators like badgers or foxes. Since it’s not an island anymore, predators can eat the birds’ eggs.
“Most people would never understand what it’s like to lose those birds because they don’t appreciate it,” Dudley said. “It’s a huge, huge loss. Besides what they do for the environment, it’s all the interconnections that we don’t even fully understand. What happens when you lose or alter one of these important parts of nature in the food chain?”
With the dire effects of climate and environmental changes on the lake, Ackley shared what she called some “magic” about the lake.
Brine shrimp is a big industry in Utah because the Great Salt Lake is full of them. When conditions are right, the shrimp population thrives but when conditions aren’t ideal, the females lay eggs that, when dehydrated, are viable for 100 years.
“In the worst case scenario, the lake dries out, but if we get a good season and we get some water back in the lake, the shrimp will come back,” Ackley said. “This is a keystone species. Without these shrimp, everything for all of us in the state, in the region, will look completely different. They are little powerhouses.”
Ackley said people who don’t see the importance of the Great Salt Lake have never sat in a kayak on the lake during sunset. She said the only way to bring about conscious change and heightened awareness to the plight of birds on the lake is to visit, camp and recreate in the area.
She said the lake is better than it was two years ago, once legislation was enacted, but this year, the lake is already low and is losing about an inch a week.
“Two years ago, the lake was dropping like a rock. Finally, the legislators flew over in a helicopter and saw firsthand what the shoreline looked like. And that year, we had legislation,” Ackley said. “If we can get people to care about the lake on a selfish level, like I want to take care of this because it’s fun for me and my family, then I’ve done my job.”
