Marine Studies Center Already Has 1st Request

Re “Shelling Out for Science,” April 18:

Your article about the new marine studies center on Shellmaker Island in Upper Newport Bay is gratifying. Upper Newport Bay is one of the few remaining natural estuaries in Southern California. With so many other estuaries gone, it is a precious resource, vital as a nursery to fish and as a migration stopover for millions of birds.

It is reassuring that there at last will be a center whose business is the study of the estuary and its functions. Many questions and puzzles await, and it is to be hoped that the center will find some answers.

In particular, the effect of air traffic from John Wayne Airport needs to be studied. Planes taking off from John Wayne fly directly over the bay, which is a little over a mile from the runway. What effect these flights have on the migratory and marine life of the bay has not been noted.

It is surprising to see that no one has made a scientific study of the effect of aircraft noise on the many species below. What breeding cycles are interfered with? What species are turned away entirely? This information should be obtained soon before more damage is done.

Allan Beek

Newport Beach