Great Lakes Fish Stocking Drives Gulls to Fast-Food Diets

Scientists are still trying to determine whether trans-fats are as bad for birds as they are for humans, but one thing seems certain: the stocking of 745 Pacific salmon in the Great Lakes has not improved the dietary habits of herring gulls. “Releasing so many salmon – voracious consumers of small fish – has had the unforeseen consequence of causing herring gulls to go hungry, driving the birds to garbage bins and ultimately to accumulating the junk-food ingredient in their eggs.” Martin Mittelstaedt in Canada’s Globe and Mail.