Into Alaska - Alaska and Points North: Tips and Tales from the Road - page 83

Interesting Info:
about Bald Eagles
With an unchallenged command of the air, bald eagles soar and swoop, talons extended to
snatch unwary salmon from the waterways. Populations have always enjoyed stability in
Canada and Alaska but just forty years ago the bald eagle was courting extinction in the
lower 48 states. Hunting and loss of habitat were blamed but DDT was believed to be the
major culprit. Chemical run-off contaminated the fish which the eagles ate, weakening their
eggs to the point that the shells broke during incubation or simply did not hatch.
Once DDT was banned in 1972 the eagle population began its return. Today, bald eagles can
be observed gathering by the thousands each fall and winter to feast on spawning salmon.
While it may be too challenging for most of us to visit the Chilkat Preserve in the winter,
more accessible populations also gather in Klamath Falls, Oregon and Brackendale, British
Columbia (between Squamish and Whistler).
Eagle Facts