Fire crews tackled a wildfire Tuesday that swept through a Puget Sound bird sanctuary near Port Townsend.
About 25 acres of Protection Island were burned by the fire. North of Port Townsend, smoke could be seen across the Straight of Juan De Fuca. The fire is now contained.
Protection Island’s Wildlife Refuge is home too many rare seals and nesting seabirds. Among them is the largest colony of rhinoceros auklets in the world. It’s also one of the last places in the Puget Sound where you can find a tufted puffin.
“It’s very heartbreaking, isn’t it?” said Cindy Daily of the Discovery Bay Wild Bird Rescue. “It’s an especially important area for our seabird populations.”
According to the Port Townsend Marine Science Center, some fluffy chicks were spotted on the shoreline as recently as this past Saturday.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
“There’s areas where they can get up on the island and make their burrows and nest there, and the important part is there are no people. There are no disturbances,” Daily said.
At Discovery Bay Wild Bird Rescue, Daily rehabilitates these species and helps them return to the wild. She told KIRO 7 she’s yet to take in a bird injured by the fire, but she has heard from plenty of concerned people looking to help.
“We’ve had wonderful responses from the community,who have offered to walk the beaches,” she said.
Daily wants people back on shore in Jefferson and Clallam counties to keep an eye out for injured birds.
Anyone who spots an injured bird should not put it back into the Sound.
“If they’re injured, however, they’ll go through the surf and they’ll beach themselves, so that is how we know. If they’re on the beaches ,they have a problem,” Daily said. “And so we have to go through a process of washing them so we can get that waterproofing back on those important feathers.”
Anyone who finds an injured bird should contact wildlife officials or the bird rescue.
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