DO NOT FEED THE DUCKS OF THE NAUTICAL ACTIVITIES TRACK!
Please do not feed the ducks with bread: it not only harms the health of ducks, it is bad for the environment! A diet rich in bread can cause diseases in waterfowl and leads to an increase in the amount of algae and bacteria, negatively affecting water quality and damaging the entire ecosystem.
Feeding ducks with bread is apparently an innocent pastime.
However, experts in the field, such as Justin Parkinson, say that feeding ducks with bread is not only bad for the health of ducks, but can harm the entire ecosystem.
Do not feed the ducks in the PAN (Nautical Activities Track)!
Throwing crumbs of dry, hard bread into a lake or river is a family ritual since the 19th century. Ducks rival geese, swans, waterfowl and sometimes seagulls to catch them. In the case of the PAN (Nautical Activities Track) of the Centro Desportivo Nacional do Jamor (CDNJ), this happens especially with seagulls and pigeons.
However, it has long been accepted that a diet rich in bread, particularly white bread, can cause disease and deformation in waterfowl.
In addition, scholars in the field warn that unripened bread, when decomposed in water, can cause great destruction: it leads to an increase in the amount of algae and bacteria, which in turn may poison other species and promote proliferation of undesirable species. The decaying bread favors the population of superficial algae, which release toxins harmful to fish and also bad odors, by the formation of nitrates and phosphates.
The bread consumed by the birds causes more excrement, which has effects similar to those mentioned above.
The nutrients also favor the development of filamentous algae, which grow from the bottom to the surface in a dense mesh that reduces water circulation, damaging the aquatic environment.
"Of course, it's not just bread that's the only food that causes problems" says Richard Bennett, an environmental manager. "It's okay to feed ducks on a clean river with running water and few nutrients," but people tend to feed them in "urban environments" such as our PAN (Nautical Activities Track)!
Decaying bread favors the development of bacteria and attracts other harmful species, such as rats, whose urine transmits "leptospirosis" (WEIL disease), which can be deadly to humans.
"Feeding birds is an activity that people have been practicing for generations and we do not want to discourage them" says Bennett, "but people have to think about the best way to do it."
In the present case, we advise the users of the Centro Desportivo Nacional do Jamor (CDNJ) to feed the ducks on the river Jamor, right next door, where the drawbacks mentioned above will not be verified.
Do not feed the ducks in the PAN (Nautical Activities Track)!
14-09-2021