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A fleet of drones patrolling New York City\u2019s beaches for signs of sharks and struggling swimmers is drawing backlash from an aggressive group of seaside residents: local shorebirds.<\/p>\n
Since the drones began flying in May, flocks of birds have repeatedly swarmed the devices, forcing the police department and other city agencies to adjust their flight plans. While the attacks have slowed, they have not stopped completely, fueling concern from wildlife experts about the impact on threatened species nesting along the coast.<\/p>\n
Veronica Welsh, a wildlife coordinator at the Parks Department, said the birds were \u201cvery annoyed by the drones\u201d from the moment they arrived on the beach.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey will fly at it, they\u2019ll swoop at it, they\u2019ll be vocalizing,\u201d Welsh said. \u201cThey think they\u2019re defending their chicks from a predator.\u201d<\/p>\n
No birds have been harmed, but officials say there have been several close calls. The drones, which come equipped with inflatable life rafts that can be dropped on distressed swimmers, have yet to conduct any rescues. They\u00a0spotted<\/a>\u00a0their first shark on Thursday, resulting in a closure of most of the beach.<\/p>\n City officials said the \u201cswarming incidents\u201d have been primarily carried out by American oystercatchers. The shorebird, known for its striking orange bill, lays its eggs this time of year in the sand on Rockaway Beach. While its population has improved in recent decades,\u00a0federal authorities<\/a>\u00a0consider the species a \u201chigh conservation concern.\u201d<\/p>\n The birds eventually may grow habituated to the devices, which can stretch over 3 feet (nearly a meter) long and emit a loud hum as they take flight, said David Bird, a professor of wildlife biology at McGill University.<\/p>\n But he was quick to raise a far more dire possibility: that the drones could prompt a stress response in some birds that causes them to flee the beach and abandon their eggs, as several thousand elegant terns did following\u00a0a recent drone crash<\/a>\u00a0in San Diego.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t know a lot about what sort of distance is required to protect the birds,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we do know there are birds on this beach that are highly endangered. If they abandon their nests because of the drones, that would be a disaster.\u201d<\/p>\n On Rockaway Beach, a popular summertime destination for New Yorkers, American oystercatchers share their habitat with multiple tern species of waterbirds, as well as piping plovers, a small, sand-colored bird that is the city\u2019s only federally designated endangered species. Local officials closely monitor the plovers each summer, barring beachgoers \u2014 and drones \u2014 from the stretches of sand where they primarily nest.<\/p>\n After the city\u2019s Emergency Management Department flagged the coastal conflict last month, drone operators, largely drawn from the police and fire department, agreed to fly the devices further from oystercatcher nesting areas.<\/p>\n \u201cWe pointed out that there\u2019s a nest here and there\u2019s two angry parents who don\u2019t want you anywhere near their eggs or their babies,\u201d said Natalie Grybauskas, the agency\u2019s assistant commissioner.<\/p>\n Since then, agencies have been holding briefings on the issue, a departure from their usual work on disasters like fires and building collapses.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s rare that you have to learn about the life cycles of baby birds,\u201d Grybauskas said.<\/p>\n But even after the city adjusted its flight range, beachgoers said they witnessed groups of birds rushing at the drones.<\/p>\n New York City is not alone turning to drones to patrol its waters. Following a spate of shark bites last summer, a\u00a0similar effort<\/a>\u00a0was launched by officials on Long Island. Those devices are smaller and quieter and do not have flotation devices. In recent years, lifeguards in Australia also have used drones to monitor sharks and to conduct rescue operations.<\/p>\n New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a devoted\u00a0drone enthusiast<\/a>, has touted the new drone program as a \u201cgreat addition to saving the lives of those that we lose over the summer,\u201d especially as the city struggles to hire lifeguards to staff its beaches.<\/p>\n Four people have drowned off city beaches this summer, matching the total number of swimming deaths from last year.<\/p>\n After two teenagers disappeared while swimming off a beach adjacent to Rockaway, the NYPD\u00a0flew its drones<\/a>\u00a0as part of the search mission. Both bodies eventually washed up on the shoreline.<\/p>\n