Ahh the sweet, sweet sound of rain sprinkling down from the heavens, or booming through the valley (as it did last night) after a long, dry, hot summer.
If you're from Vernon VT, your sports teams are in Boston and yet you are also accustomed to using words like, "taxachusetts" and "flatlander." Oh there is a more popular one out there; but Wayne assures me that it is not appropriate for this blog. Be that as it may, I believe that we share the love with Boston in more ways than the Pats, Celtics, Sox and Bruins. I'm not talking one way traffic here: but rather marvelous things such as, each Mother's Day Boston has an entire Duckling Day complete with a Duck Parade that includes a marching band! There is also a bronze statue of the endearing children's story, "Make Way For Ducklings" on the common. Arguably one of Boston's most nostalgic attractions are the Swan Boats. These boats navigate around a lagoon filled with ducks and geese being fed copious amounts of junk food tossed at them by tiny human hands. What I mean to say is this; that be it MA or VT, who doesn't love ducks? We are more connected than we sometimes like to think.
This morning I woke up to reports that 20 wild Mallard ducks were euthanized because they became sick from Botulism while swimming in the man made lagoon at Boston's Public Garden. Our daughter Helen, who works with birds on the coast of ME and will begin a salt marsh restoration project this month, often reminds us that in Wildlife, "you can't change just one thing." In the case of Boston's lagoon, those investigating the outbreak of this toxic bacteria, think that it happened because the Swan Boats stopped running due to COVID-19 restrictions. It seems that those tourist filled boats churning about in the lagoon, introduced the oxygen necessary to prevent Botulism outbreaks.
Like the Celtics down by fifty points, Kemba Walker on the DL and the opposing team taking to the court hot in the fourth; the lagoon just couldn't catch a break. Warm water doesn't hold as much oxygen as cool water and shallow bodies of water heat up more quickly than deep.The impact of placing the swan boats on the DL (the lagoon's source of oxygen) during the hot dry months of summer created ideal conditions for the bacteria dominating the arena.
This oxygenating process would typically occur in natural bodies of water via a system of waterfalls, tributaries and distributaries. To explain it simply, increasing oxygen levels makes it very difficult for certain bacteria to survive. If you are super interested in the science of Anaerobic organisms and Microbiology, click on the link for a more detailed explanation. For the rest of us, see below.
Botulism spores are harmless until the right environmental conditions allow the spores to germinate and then they become toxic. Botulism spores persist for years not doing much, just waiting in the pregame locker room for the right conditions that allow them to play. The spores are in habitats with no oxygen, soils, aquatic sediments, the digestive system of fish and in fish gills. The right conditions for germination include a nutrient dense supporting material with lots of decaying plant growth and no oxygen.
We are getting a little out there, so let's bring all of this back to our home field with the understanding that I am choosing to talk about these small man created systems solely because they are easier to discuss and not because I'm being unfaithful to the home team.
The Vernon pool is now in the off season, and that means they have turned off the water, filtration and other water sanitation systems. I took a walk over there today to check things out and found that the water seems just as clear as it was last week. But as everyone knows, soon the pool will become cloudy and then turn a lovely shade of green. Now we don't have resident schools of fish swimming around in the town pool, there aren't any decaying plants, the bottom is free of substrate, and the kids are out of the pool and on to the soccer fields. It's seems unlikely that the pool is a candidate for Botulism, so what is that green murky stuff happily populating the Vernon pool? We will talk about that in my next blog - Norma Manning
Resources:
Avian Botulism, Sea Grant Michigan
About Botulism, CDC
Oxygen Requirements for Microbial Growth, Lumen Microbiology
Parks Department Draining Boston Public Garden Pond After at Least 20 Ducks Contract Deadly Toxin, 7 News Boston
The Lagoon in Boston's Public Garden
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