Border collies help clean beaches, water

LOS ANGELES — Dogs aren’t usually associated with clean beaches.

But new research has recognized border collies for their ability to chase off gulls that foul beach water and sand with their droppings.

The experiment was launched two years ago by researchers at Central Michigan University who were asked by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to find new ways to control a surging population of gulls that gather on the shores of the Great Lakes.

Not only do the birds swoop down to snatch sandwiches from picnickers and annoy beachgoers, they also defecate right where people swim. That makes them a major source of E. coli, bacteria that health officials test for as an indicator of pathogens that can make swimmers sick. When elevated levels are detected, authorities post warnings or close beaches.

Elizabeth Alm, a microbiologist at Central Michigan University who led the research, said a review of literature on the subject found a variety of bird-exclusion techniques using wires, strobe lights, lasers and pyrotechnics — but few that would be suitable for a public beach.

Enter the border collie.

Alm and other researchers at the university were familiar with the breed’s reputation for intelligence, agility and hard work. So they decided to audition the dogs. Could they use their keen herding abilities and intense gazes to scare off the offending gulls and lower bacteria levels at the beach?

To find out, the researchers leased two trained border collies that had previously been used by the Air Force to keep geese off runways.

During the summers of 2012 and 2013, scientists assigned each dog to patrol a stretch of public beach on Lake Michigan, leaving two other nearby sections of beach dog-free as a control. The researchers counted gulls and measured bacteria levels to conclude that border collies were highly effective at warding off gulls from beaches.