Great Lakes gulls monitored as pollution measure

Scientists are keeping a close eye on gulls around the Great Lakes.

They believe the birds are good indicators of how much pollution is out there, and that tells them a lot about the health of the lakes in general.

Robert Letcher is is a senior research scientist with Environment and Climate Change Canada. He said the birds nest along the Great Lakes all year and do not migrate.

"They tend to represent the regions in which they're nesting," he said.

"That means that wherever they're nesting, they're eating from that same environment and therefore being exposed through their food tothe same suite of chemicals that might be more representative of a given area in the Great Lakes."

Hear more about the program on CBC's Windsor Morning:

Letcher is a part of the Great Lakes Herring Gull Monitoring Program that aims to keep an eye on the ecosystem.

He saidevidence collected from gulls showeda dramatic decrease in most of the so-called "legacy" chemicals, with the exception of mercury.

But there are also new pollutants appearing, such as flame retardants.