GLOUCESTER POINT, Va. (AP) — Stepping onto an old wooden duck blind in the middle of the York River, Bryan Watts looks down at a circle of sticks and pine cones on the weathered, guano-spattered platform. It’s a failed osprey nest, taken over by diving terns.

“The birds never laid here this year,” said Watts, near the mouth of Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay. “And that’s a pattern we’ve been seeing these last couple of years.”

Watts has a more intimate relationship with ospreys than most people have with a bird — he has climbed to their nests to free them from plastic bags, fed them by hand and monitored their eggs with telescopic mirrors.

The fish-eating raptor known for gymnastic dives and whistle-like chirps is an American conservation success story. After pesticides and other hazards nearly eliminated the species from much of the country, the hawk-like bird rebounded after the banning of DDT in 1972 and now numbers in the thousands in the U.S.

But Watts has documented an alarming trend. The birds, which breed in many parts of the U.S., are failing to successfully fledge enough chicks around their key population center of the Chesapeake Bay. The longtime biologist blames the decline of menhaden, a small schooling fish critical to the osprey diet. Without menhaden to eat, chicks are starving and dying in nests, Watts said.

Osprey are an environmental indicator

Watts’s claim has put him and environmental groups at odds with the fishing industry, trade unions and sometimes government regulators. Menhaden is valuable for fish oil, fish meal and agricultural food as well as bait.

U.S. fishermen have caught at least 1.1 billion pounds of menhaden every year since 1951. Members of the industry tout its sustainability and said the decline in osprey may have nothing to do with fishing.

But without help, the osprey population could tumble to levels not seen since the dark days of DDT, said Watts, director of the Center for Conservation Biology at The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.

“The osprey are yelling pretty loudly that, hey, there’s not enough menhaden for us to reproduce successfully,” Watts said. “And we should be listening to them to be more informed fully on the fisheries side, and we should take precaution on the fisheries management side. But that hasn’t won the day at this point.”

Decline linked to menhaden in studies

Watts, who has studied osprey on the Chesapeake for decades, has backed his claims of population decline by publishing studies in scientific journals. He said it boils down to a simple statistic — to maintain population, osprey pairs need to average 1.15 chicks per year.

Osprey were reproducing at that level in the 1980s, but today in some areas around the main stem of the Chesapeake, it’s less than half of that, Watts said. In particularly distressed areas, they aren’t even reproducing at one-tenth that level, he said. And the decline in available menhaden matches the areas of nesting failure, Watts said.

Also called pogies or bunkers, the oily menhaden are especially important for young birds because they are more nutritious than other fish in the sea. Osprey “reproductive performance is inextricably linked to the availability and abundance” of menhaden, Watts wrote in a 2023 study published in Frontiers in Marine Science.

Conservationists have been concerned for years, saying too many menhaden have been removed to maintain their crucial role in the ocean food chain. Historian H. Bruce Franklin went so far as to title his 2007 book on menhaden “The Most Important Fish In The Sea.”

Fishing industry pushes back

Menhaden help sustain one of the world’s largest fisheries, worth more than $200 million at the docks in 2023. Used as bait, the fish are critical for valuable commercial targets such as Maine lobster. They’re also beloved by sportfishermen.

The modern industry is dominated by Omega Protein, a Reedville, Virginia, company that is a subsidiary of Canadian aquaculture giant Cooke. The company pushed back at the idea that fishing is the cause of osprey decline, although it did acknowledge that fewer menhaden are showing up in some parts of the bay.

Federal data show osprey breeding is in decline in many parts of the country, including where menhaden is not harvested at all, said Ben Landry, an Omega spokesperson. Climate change, pollution and development could be playing a role, said Landry and others with the company.

Blaming fishing “just reeks of environmental special interest groups having an influence over the process,” Landry said.

New rules could be on the way

The menhaden fishery is managed by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, an interstate body that crafts rules and sets fishing quotas. Prompted by questions about ospreys, it created a work group to address precautionary management of the species in the Chesapeake Bay.

In April, this group proposed several potential management approaches, including seasonal closures, restrictions on quotas or days at sea, and limitations on kinds of fishing gear. The process of creating new rules could begin this summer, said James Boyle, fishery management plan coordinator with the commission.

The osprey population has indeed shown declines in some areas since 2012, but it’s important to remember the bird’s population is much larger than it was before DDT was banned, Boyle said.

“There are big increases in osprey population since the DDT era,” Boyle said, citing federal data showing a six-fold increase in osprey populations along the Atlantic Coast since the 1960s.

Environmentalists says bird’s decline could worsen

To a number of environmental groups, any decline is too much. This irritates some labor leaders who worry about losing more jobs as the fishing industry declines.

Kenny Pinkard, retired vice president of UFCW Local 400’s executive board and a longtime Virginia fishermen, said he feels the industry is being scapegoated.

“There are some people who just don’t want to see us in business at all,” he said.

But Chris Moore, Virginia executive director for Chesapeake Bay Foundation, said the country risks losing an iconic bird if no action is taken. He said Watts’s studies show that the osprey will fail without access to menhaden.

“Osprey have been a success story,” Moore said. “We’re in a situation where they’re not replacing their numbers. We’ll actually be in a situation where we’re in a steep decline.”

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Whittle reported from Portland, Maine.

___ This story was supported by funding from the Walton Family Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

You can only sit in front of the fridge with the door open for so long.

As heat waves blast the world like a blow dryer on high, folks are reaching for anything that promises a little personal chill: portable mini fans, cooling neck wraps, high-tech vests and all kinds of heat-beating headwear.

Of course, cooling gear helps most when paired with basic and safe strategies against the heat: most importantly hydration, shade and rest. Stay out of extreme heat when possible, and know the signs of heat exhaustion or heat stroke.

Yet these wearable wonders and breezy gadgets can offer some relief. They might look quirky, but when the AC struggles and the sidewalk feels like a stovetop, they can start to seem like must-haves.

When you’re at home

Indoors, stay comfy with cool-feel sheets (like those with a silky finish or lightweight fibers), bed fans (where a nozzle inserted into the bed linens pumps a flow of air around you), or a cooling pillow or chill pad, which are filled with a gel that can stay cool for hours. Sleep-product brands include Serta, Sealy, Casper, Pluto and Threshold.

The chill pads can work for your own bed and the pets’ bed too. There are chillable full-size mattresses (Chilipad, 8Sleep and BedJet get good reviews from The Spruce) and smaller, simple pads (CoolCare and Sharper Image, among others).

Outdoor wearables

Clare Epstein, an employee safety expert with Vector Solutions in Tampa, Florida, works to reduce heat stress for at-risk employees in industries like construction, aviation and agriculture. She recommends wearables like cooling scarves and evaporative cooling vests.

“By soaking the fabric in cold water at the beginning of the day, the vest slowly cools, and keeps the wearer cool,” she says.

Clothes made of “phase change materials,” or PCMs, contain gel capsules or pads that can help moderate body temperatures. Uline.com advertises a vest that stays under 60 degrees for a few hours, and AlphaCool offers a neck tube that performs similarly. Another feature of the tube, which is made of a polymer material, is that it doesn’t get overly chilled, so it’s safe for kids to use.

Also for kids, there’s a line of plush toys from Warmies that includes little critters of the farmyard, ocean, forest and safari that can be popped in the freezer before a trip to the park or playground.

Wearable items that incorporate small fans or thermoelectric coolers are also good, Epstein says. And there are vests with tubed reservoirs you can fill with water or electrolytes so you can sip as you go.

“These encourage people to take more water breaks, and stay hydrated,” says Epstein.

The wearables range is extensive. Along with cooling buffs, headbands, wristbands, socks and scarves, there are cooling brimmed hats and ball caps. Brands include Mission, Ergodyne, and Sunday Afternoon.

If you’d prefer a refreshing breeze, USB-chargeable handheld or wearable fans might do the job.

Chill advice

Lynn Campbell, co-founder of 10Adventures travel company in Calgary, Alberta, takes a lot of strenuous hiking and cycling trips with her husband, Richard. They’ve developed some easy hacks for hot days.

“We’ll wake up early, so we’re done by 10 or 11 a.m., or if we’re out on the trails, split the day in two, so we rest by water or in the shade over the hottest part” of the day, she says.

Wear light colors and thin, breathable fabrics.

And bring an umbrella. “This is a game-changer,” Campbell says. “Now we always pack ultralight, compact ones; they’re incredible.”

Also, pour cool water on your head and back. “We freeze a few bottles of water so we can pour ice water on us to cool down,” Campbell says. “Putting the bottles under the armpits, in the groin, or on the back of the neck can effectively cool a person down.”

And Annita Katee, a contributing writer for Apartment Therapy, has another way to prep your bed on hot nights:

“Pop your sheets into the freezer at least two hours before bedtime, then pull them out right before you hit the sack,” she wrote in a recent post. She folds hers into a zipped plastic bag, flattens it, then sets it on a freezer shelf between ice packs.

“The result? A delightfully cool bed that feels like a refreshing oasis against the heat.”

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New York-based writer Kim Cook covers design and decor topics regularly for The AP. Follow her on Instagram at @kimcookhome.

For more AP Lifestyles stories, go to https://apnews.com/lifestyle

Breakfast cereal could use a lucky charm.

U.S. sales of the colorfully packaged morning staple have been in a decades-long decline, a trend back in the spotlight with news that Italian confectioner Ferrero Group plans to purchase WK Kellogg, maker of Corn Flakes, Froot Loops, Rice Krispies and other familiar brands.

Except for a brief period during the coronavirus pandemic, when many workers were home and had time to sit down with a bowl of cereal and milk, sales of cold cereal have steadily fallen for at least 25 years, experts say.

In the 52 weeks ending July 3, 2021, Americans bought nearly 2.5 billion boxes of cereal, according to market research company Nielsen IQ. In the same period this year, the number was down more than 13% to 2.1 billion.

Cereal has been struggling for multiple reasons. The rise of more portable options like Nutri-Grain bars and Clif Bars – which both went on sale in the early 1990s – made it easier for consumers to grab breakfast on the go.

Concerns about food processing and sugar intake have also dimmed some consumers’ enthusiasm for cereals. One cup of Lucky Charms contains 24% of a consumer’s daily recommended intake of sugar, for example.

“Cereal finds it really hard to get out from underneath that,” said Tom Rees, global insight manager for staple foods at the consulting company Euromonitor. “It can’t escape the fact that it doesn’t look like a natural food. You have to create it and form it.”

Rees noted that for decades, cereal manufacturers focused on adding vitamins and minerals to build cereal’s health credentials. But consumers now are looking for simplified ingredient lists.

Artificial dyes — like the petroleum-based colors that brighten Froot Loops — have also come under fire. Last fall, dozens of people rallied outside WK Kellogg’s Battle Creek, Michigan, headquarters demanding that it remove artificial dyes from its cereals. Kellogg and General Mills — another major U.S. cereal maker — have since pledged to phase out artificial dyes.

Add to that, consumers are expanding their idea of what breakfast can be. Yogurt and shakes have replaced the traditional bacon and eggs. Kenton Barello, a vice president at the market research firm YouGov, said his polling shows that Generation Z consumers, who were born between 1997 and 2007, eat more vegetables for breakfast than other generations.

Barello said YouGov’s polling also shows that members of Gen Z are less likely to eat breakfast but still buy ready-to-eat cereal, suggesting they’re eating it as a snack or for other meals.

“With younger generations, there are differences in their relationship with food and these eating moments,” Barello said. “They are going about breakfast in a different way than Millennials, Gen X and Baby Boomers.”

Cereal’s struggles are part of what led to the breakup of the Kellogg Company. In 2023, the century-old company that put Battle Creek, Michigan, on the map split into two companies. Kellanova took popular snack brands like Cheez-Its, Pringles and Pop-Tarts as well as international cereals, and WK Kellogg made cereals for the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean.

In 2024, M&M’s maker Mars Inc. announced a plan to buy Kellanova for more than $30 billion. That plan has cleared U.S. regulators but is still awaiting regulatory approval in Europe. WK Kellogg was left to try to rejuvenate the cereal business.

The sale of WK Kellogg to Ferrero doesn’t mean supermarket cereal aisles are at risk of extinction. Packaged food companies have options for turning around their soggy cereal sales, Rees said. He thinks Kellogg’s Mashups line, which mixed brands like Frosted Flakes and Froot Loops into one box, appeal to younger consumers, who tend to like interesting flavor combinations.

The market may also have a fragmented future, according to Rees. Companies may have to accept that younger buyers want a sweet-and-spicy cereal while older buyers might want a Keto-friendly option.

“The future might be realizing that the era of ‘This brand will serve everybody’ isn’t going to happen,” Rees said.

Julia Mills, a food analyst with the consulting company Mintel, thinks the shrinking population of children in the U.S. gives cereal makers the opportunity to shift to more sophisticated flavors and packaging. Cereal could be positioned as a fancy topping for yogurt, for example, or a fiber-rich food that can improve gut health.

Some niche cereal brands, like high-fiber Poop Like a Champion cereal and high-protein, zero-sugar Magic Spoon, are already doing that. But legacy brands say they shouldn’t be counted out.

Jeffrey Harmening, the chairman and chief executive officer of Cheerios maker General Mills, said his company considered trying to acquire Magic Spoon. Instead, it made high-protein versions of Cheerios, which now outsells Magic Spoon.

“The key to longer term is, honestly, is giving consumers more of what they want,” Harmening said during a conference call with investors in March.