This morning the wonderful radio program, "Living on Earth," (which airs on our local public radio station WKSU) aired an interesting though distressing story on the effects on birds migrating over the Gulf of Mexico of the high-powered lighting on the Gulf's huge oil-drilling platforms.

Ben Raines, an environmental reporter for the Mobile Alabama Press-Register, spoke with "Living on Earth" radio host Bruce Gellerman about the problem that the migrating birds that we see in Ohio in the spring face on their arduous crossing of the Gulf.

It is well worth a listen, especially since if you listen all the way to the end of the interview there appears to be a rather simple solution already pioneered in the North Sea, i.e. a green-tinted light that dramatically reduces the nocturnal circulation problem--perhaps by 90%.

If true, I should think that green-tinted lights would have beneficial applications for nocturnally migrating birds in many other places, including on whatever wind turbines might end up in Lake Erie.

The link for the interview follows below.

-Patrick Coy
Peninsula, OH

http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=12-P13-00001&segmentID=4



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