If you want to know why I ghosted out of a stable life as an academic for the grind of daily newspaper deadlines, today’s column (gift link) is my answer. I now have both time and reason to spend a day on a very smelly island with the state’s most annoying bird. That might sound like a negative but, then again, you probably don’t know much about academic committee work.
I understood little about the double-crested cormorant until I was jetting across Mille Lacs on a high-speed aluminum boat sporting the insignia of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. We were headed for Spirit Island, a ghostly white rocky formation on the southern side of this massive central Minnesota lake.
Why? Well, that requires a multi-part answer.
First, dirty slobs throw junk out of fishing boats. Some, might leave trash on the ice in winter. Regardless, it sinks to the bottom of the lake.
Later, the cormorant ably dives to the bottom looking for nesting materials. Therefore, lake trash ends up in the cormorant nests on Spirit or Hennepin Islands, both part of the Mille Lacs National Wildlife Refuge. In some cases, the trash ensnares and kills young cormorants.
To mitigate the problem, wildlife refuge staff, the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe and other volunteers gather each year to clean the islands.
On Aug. 19, I joined them. True, it was one of the smelliest places I’ve ever been. People used many words to describe the odor:
Pungent.
Sour.
Stinging.
Despite it all, I had a great time. In fact, I even felt a little nostalgic for my time as an instructor. Four of the workers were interns from the Central Lakes College natural resources program. Not only were they delightful, they were super chill about helping a shambling middle aged man in and out of a boat anchored to bird-poop festooned rocks.
This became one of my favorite columns of late. I encourage you to check it out.
Read “Loud, smelly cormorants, the unsung heroes of Minnesota lakes,” in the Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026 edition of the Minnesota Star Tribune.
Aaron J. Brown is a columnist and member of the editorial board for the Minnesota Star Tribune. His new book about Hibbing Mayor Victor Power and his momentous fight against the world’s largest corporation will be out soon.
