The Squam Swim 2011

Squam Swim Between the fall of 2004 and the spring of 2005, Squam Lake lost seven of its loon pairs. This decline, from 16 to 9 pairs, represented 44% of Squam’s loon population, a drop unprecedented on Squam or any other large lake in the Loon Preservation Committee (LPC)’s 35-year history of monitoring loons. It also brought Squam’s loon population to its lowest level since LPC began to survey the lake in 1975. The decline was followed by an almost complete reproductive failure of the remaining loon population – only one loon chick was fledged from the lake in 2007, and only two chicks in 2008.

The Loon Preservation Committee has been investigating possible causes of these declines to reverse these troubling population trends on Squam. Our efforts have included:

  • an extended field season for LPC’s Squam Lakes Biologist;
  • testing inviable loon eggs collected from failed loon nests, blood and feather samples, and any dead loons we find, for a wide range of contaminants and pathogens;
  • banding loons to track the survival, breeding success and wintering locations of individuals;
  • analyzing the effects of a wide range of other factors on loon survival and breeding success, including fish populations, predator populations, recreational use of lakes, precipitation events, and temperature extremes; and,
  • increasing management on Squam, including the use of ropes and signs around nesting loons, nesting rafts, and covers on rafts to protect eggs from avian predators.
Squam Swim

These efforts are expensive – LPC’s testing of loon samples is the most comprehensive ever undertaken, and it costs LPC over $2,000 to test a single loon egg. You can help support LPC’s work to safeguard loons on Squam Lake by donating to the SWIM 2011 fundraiser. This year, swimmers Wendy Van de Poll, Rose de Mars, Jacob Jason, Mark Longly, Blair Newcomb, Sara Prouty and Rick Van de Poll will swim the length of Squam Lake, from Holderness to Sandwich, in early August. The Squam Lakes Natural Science Center has generously offered to donate a boat, and boat captain Dale Lary, to the cause. To pledge your support for the swimmers and for Squam Lake loons, call LPC at 603-476-5666 or visit the Donations page and select Squam Swim/Squam Lake Loon Initiative or note “SWIM” in the “sponsor an event” field.

Thank you for your support!