Happily reading an opinion piece about ecotourism (“What Ecuador can teach the US,’’ Aug. 8), I got stopped cold by: “We playfully tried to get non-mocking mockingbirds to caw and flightless cormorants to fly.’’ It’s an essay about ecology, and the author is harassing the wildlife.

Then I calmed down and went back to reading. “Nevertheless, each island’s ecosystem continues to be vulnerable to one animal — the human.’’

I hope that’s a lesson the author, and all ecotourists, truly take to heart.

Martha M. Bergeron

Lynn