A man who swam in the home of the endangered Banff Springs Snail has been fined $4,500.
On Wednesday, (Jan. 14) Bailey Thomas Townsend, 27, pleaded guilty in Canmore Provincial Court to entering a restricted area under the Canada National Parks Act and damaging critical habitat under the Species at Risk Act.
Snail expert Dwayne Lepitzki, who is on contract with Parks Canada and has been monitoring the snail populations on Sulphur Mountain for 20 years, hopes the hefty fine sends a strong message about the importance of the tiny snails.
“I am disappointed that it happened, but I am not disappointed with the amount of the fine,” he said in an interview with the Outlook. “The fines have slowly been escalating over the years and I sure hope it sends a message.”
At approximately 2 p.m. on Nov. 26, Parks Canada employees reported that a male was bathing in the thermal pool in the cave at the Cave and Basin National Historic Site, home to the endangered Banff springs snail.
Park wardens responded and arrested the suspect. He smelled of alcohol and was smoking a cigar. The microbial mat, where the tiny lemon seed-sized snails feed and lay their eggs, was disturbed and damaged.
The Banff Springs snail was upgraded from threatened to endangered in 2000 under the Species At Risk Act because of its extremely limited distribution, the many threats to its habitat and significant fluctuations in its population numbers.
The population seesaws dramatically, with the numbers at their lowest from March to June. This makes the snail especially vulnerable at the beginning of the main tourist season, when human activities pose the greatest threat.
Any factor that affects the thermal spring ecology could harm this species. By bathing or dipping their hands in the water, people may unintentionally disturb or kill snails, as well as their eggs.
Even minor movements in the water can upset the floating microbial mats on which the snails feed and lay their eggs. Chemicals such as insect repellants and deodorants on people’s skin can also harm the snails and their habitat, as can changes in water levels.
Natural threats to the snail may include competition from soldier fly larvae and predation by waterfowl, thrushes, garter snakes and robins, as well as the drying up of thermal springs resulting from global climate change and drought.
