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Plan Looks To Restore The Common Loon In New England

A common loon.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
A common loon.

Environment officials are looking to restore the common loon and other wildlife that was killed or injured in a 2003 oil spill affecting Massachusetts and Rhode Island. 

A barge operated by Bouchard Transportation Company was damaged by some rocks as it approached the Cape Cod Canal, releasing 98,000 gallons of oil over 100 miles of shoreline. More than 500 loons were killed.

The company is paying $13 million in damages. 

Some of that money may go to support the breeding success of the common loon, known for its haunting call.

Molly Sperduto of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said a proposed plan calls for moving dozens of loon chicks from Maine and New York to Massachusetts — including to the October Mountain Reservoir in Berkshire County.

"Those young birds will then imprint on the lakes, and then when they migrate in the fall to wintering sites on the coast, the idea is they will come back to the lakes they have imprinted on," Sperduto said.

The plan also proposes new artificial loon nesting sites on rafts to protect them from predators and people.

Public comments are sought through the end of October.

Nancy Eve Cohen is a senior reporter focusing on Berkshire County. Earlier in her career she was NPR’s Midwest editor in Washington, D.C., managing editor of the Northeast Environmental Hub and recorded sound for TV networks on global assignments, including the war in Sarajevo and an interview with Fidel Castro.
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