News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 21, 2001

Kawasaki Loan Help FWC Complete Survey

MEDIA CONTACT:
Amy Fox 202-775-1401

For the past week, wildlife biologists Karen Lamonte and Ron Rozar searched most of the coastline of Wakulla, Franklin, Gulf and Bay counties looking for nesting American oystercatchers. What would have taken more than a month in the past was accomplished in record time thanks to the help of Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A. and the loan of two brand new personal watercraft (PWCs).

Lamonte and Rozar are biologists in the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Bureau of Wildlife Diversity Conservation. This April and May, they are part of a major effort to count breeding pairs of American oystercatchers around the coasts of Florida.

American oystercatchers are shorebirds that nest on beaches, sandbars and oyster bars. They're classified as a species of special concern in Florida due to their apparent low numbers. Prior to the use of the PWCs in Northwest Florida they were used by FWC biologist Nancy Douglass and a co-worker to search coastal areas of south and central Florida from Fort Myers up to New Port Ritchie. Douglass, who works out of the FWC's Lakeland regional office, approached Kawasaki and discovered the company was enthusiastic from the beginning about helping in the oystercatcher project.

"We knew they had a 'Public Safety Loan Program,' and they said this was something they wanted to be involved in," Douglass said.

Kawasaki arranged for the PWCs to be delivered to Douglass, and Fun Bike Center in Lakeland provided a trailer to carry both PWCs. Douglass said the two machines are fuel-efficient and shallow-draft vessels, which means they can be used in many areas where outboard motors can't -- and without damage to sea grass beds.

"Our objective is to cover as much ground as possible in the surveys and to count the birds prior to the end of the nesting season (end of May) when they'll disperse. These machines are ideal for this type of work," Douglass said.

While there has never been a comprehensive survey of American oystercatchers in Florida until now, biologists estimated in 1996 that there were only about 350 of the 18-inch high birds left. Oystercatchers are distinguished by striking black and white plumage, pink legs and a heavy reddish-orange bill which is used to pry open and feed on a variety of mollusks and marine crustaceans.

Although the survey is not complete, Lamonte, who works out of the Panama City regional office, said she and Rozar have found a number of nesting oystercatchers along the coasts of Wakulla, Franklin and Gulf counties. The western-most known location of nesting oystercatchers in the Panhandle is on Tyndall Air Force Base.

Lamonte said the PWCs are being transferred to other FWC staffers who'll complete the search on Florida's east coast over the next two weeks. The survey results are expected to be tabulated within eight weeks.