Scientists have reported the most significant bird mortality event in modern history, with over 4 million common murres perishing in Alaska. This catastrophic loss, revealed in a recent study published in the journal Science, surpasses any previous known wildlife disaster, including the infamous Exxon Valdez oil spill. The roots of this calamity are traced back […]
Tag: seabirds
Almost extinct Caribbean lizard makes a comeback after island restoration
A tiny lizard found only on one tiny Caribbean island has seen a dramatic 1,500% increase in its population, after just a few years of island restoration efforts. In 2018, researchers estimated there were fewer than 100 individuals of the critically endangered Sombrero ground lizard (Pholidoscelis corvinus) on the small hat-shaped Sombrero Island, part of […]
Endangered seabirds return to Pacific island after century-long absence
Small seabirds skim the open ocean at night, patting their legs on the surface as they hunt for small fish. Now, for the first time in more than 100 years, endangered Polynesian storm petrels (Nesofregetta fuliginosa) have returned to a far-flung island in French Polynesia. These rare birds began exploring Kamaka Island just three weeks […]
World’s oldest-known wild bird lays egg in Hawaii at age 74
The oldest-known wild bird in the world has laid an egg at the ripe age of about 74, her first in four years, US wildlife officials said. The long-winged seabird named Wisdom, a Laysan albatross, returned to Midway Atoll national wildlife refuge at the north-western edge of the Hawaiian Archipelago and laid what experts estimate […]
Microplastics are sickening and killing wildlife, disrupting Earth systems
Bottlenose dolphins leapt and torpedoed through the shallow turquoise waters off Florida’s Sarasota Bay. Then, a research team moved in, quickly corralling the small pod in a large net. With the speed of a race car pit crew, veterinarians, biologists and their assistants examined the animals, checking vital signs while taking skin, blood and other […]
‘It’s a monster task’: can culling ferrets and rats save one of the UK’s largest seabird colonies?
The dramatic sea cliffs, crags and stacks of Rathlin Island, county Antrim, rise more than 200 metres above the Atlantic Ocean and host one of the UK’s largest seabird colonies, including hundreds of endangered puffins, attracting up to 20,000 birders and tourists a year. On a spectacularly sunny day in September, the cliff faces are […]
Puffins on Canadian Island Facing Climate Challenges
The puffins on Machias Seal Island in Canada are experiencing significant changes as a result of rising ocean temperatures. This island, situated about 19 kilometers southwest of New Brunswick’s Grand Manan Island, serves as a critical sanctuary for seabirds, including around 8,600 breeding pairs of puffins. Dr. Heather Major, a marine biology professor at the […]
Seabirds Will Benefit from New Bill to Update Federal Fisheries Law
WASHINGTON (July 3, 2024) – Today, Reps. Jared Huffman (D-CA), Ed Case (D-HI), Mary Peltola (D-AK), and James Moylan (R-Guam) introduced the Sustaining America’s Fisheries for the Future Act of 2024, a bill that reauthorizes the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA), our nation’s primary federal fisheries law. “This bill introduces stronger protections for […]