ATTACHMENT B Listing of Studies of Adverse Impacts of Jet Skis on Wildlife
. Rogers, J.A., and S.T. Schwikert. 2002. Buffer-zone distances to protect foraging and loafing waterbirds from disturbance by personal watercraft and outboard-powered boats. Conservation Biology 16(1): 216-224.
• The ability of PWCs to travel at high speeds in very shallow water
has a great potential to disturb wildlife, especially breeding birds (e.g.,Rogers and Schwikert 2002)
• Personal watercraft have been found to disturb feeding and nesting
areas of several game bird species potentially reducing their populations (e.g., Burger 1998, Rodgers and Schwikert 2002).
Hamann, B., H. Johnston, P. McClelland, S. Johnson, L. Kelly, and J.
Gobielle. 1999. Birds. Pages 3.1-3.34 in Joslin, G. and H. Youmans,
coordinators.
• Anecdotal reports suggest that PWC use resulted in nest abandonment
of loons in Montana (Hamann et al. 1999) and disturbance of brown pelicans and osprey in Florida (Jenkins 2002).
Jenkins, D. 2002. Hostile Waters – The impacts of personal watercraft use on waterway recreation. American Canoe Association. 52p.
http://bluewaternetwork.org/reports/rep_pwc_ACAreport.pdf
Burger, J. 1998. Effects of motorboats and personal watercraft on flight behavior over a colony of common terns. The Condor 100: 528-34.
Johnson, M.L. 1998. Ecological risk of MTBE in surface waters. John Muir Institute of the Environment, University of California, Davis, Californ
• Personal watercraft emit pollutants such as benzene, toluene, and
xylene, all of which settle in estuarine and shallow water ecosystems where fish eggs, larvae, algae, crab, shrimp, and other crustaceans live. Studies have found adverse effects on rainbow trout and insect communities (Johnson,1998; Tjärnlund, et al. 1995).
A Report of the Jt. Subcommittee on Ocean Science & Technology-Interagency Task Force on Anthropogenic Sound and the Marine Environment, “Addressing the Effects of Human-Generated Sound on Marine Life: An Integrated Research Plan for U.S. Federal Agenciesâ€