Proposed N.S. spaceport threat to migratory birds: researcher

A researcher says Canada’s first proposed spaceport in Canso, N.S., is a potential threat to migratory birds.

John Kearney, an adjunct professor at Dalhousie University, says he’s concerned that lighting at the $200-million site could confuse birds and delay their migration.

“When you put lights in such a place, birds are attracted to those lights and recent studies have shown that they can have quite a strong impact on birds’ migratory behaviour,” Kearney said in an interview.

“It can result in them flying around the lights to the point of exhaustion. In some cases they can collide with whatever structure is supporting the light,” he said.

In a blog post this month, Kearney said he also thinks there could be a loss of stopover and breeding habitat for a number of bird species including the whimbrel and the willet.

Maritime Launch Services Ltd. wants to start construction next year on a launch site that could eventually see as many as 12 satellites blast into orbit per year. Stephen Matier, president of Maritime Launch, said Kearney has never contacted his company to express his concerns or learn details of what the company is planning.

“I don’t really understand what his concerns are. How can you even have issues or concerns without having some understanding what the project is actually doing or planning as far as night lighting or what have you?” Matier said from his office in New Mexico.

Matier said one of the reasons the site was chosen was because previous environmental assessments done for a neighbouring Canso wind farm showed no issues for migratory birds.