By 2015, scientists knew from camera trap evidence that mice were attacking albatross chicks on Marion Island, but no one had ever witnessed it first-hand on the small volcanic outcrop off the coast of South Africa. So, when researchers Stefan and Janine Schoombie came across a badly wounded wandering albatross chick in a relatively accessible […]
Tag: seabirds
Bird Flu Reaches Antarctica Threatening Penguins and Seabirds
A deadly strain of bird flu has officially made its way to Antarctica, raising serious alarm among scientists and wildlife advocates. According to New Scientist reporter Michael Le Page, H5N1 bird flu has been confirmed in dead skuas along the Antarctic Peninsula, marking the virus’s first known impact on the frozen continent’s wildlife. Researchers from […]
What Did Scientists Learn After Thousands of Penguins Were Slaughtered by Mountain Lions?
In 2007, only three years after the creation of Monte León National Park along the wild coastline of Argentine Patagonia, efforts to protect penguins took an unexpected turn. A female puma was slaughtering Magellanic penguins in droves. Some of these she would eat, while other surplus kills were left to rot. Before long, her cubs […]
As Oceans Warm, Predators Are Falling Out of Sync with Their Prey
For decades on the U.S. Mid-Atlantic coast, recreational anglers have braved the cold temperatures of late October and November to chase one of the region’s most iconic fish species, the striped bass. This season, just offshore of New Jersey and New York, the fall run was especially strong. “The amount of fish and [their size] […]
National Trust records ‘alarming’ drop in insects and seabirds at its sites
There have been alarming declines this year in some insect species including bees, butterflies, moths and wasps, while many seabirds have also been “hammered” by unstable weather patterns caused by the climate emergency, a conservation charity has said. In its annual report on the impact of the weather on flora and fauna, the National Trust […]
A Marine Heatwave Killed 4 Million of Alaska’s Murre Seabirds
Beginning in late fall 2014 and lasting into 2016, an anomalous, massive marine heatwave nicknamed “the Blob” developed off the western coast of the U.S., covering all of Alaska‘s coastwater and extending as far south as Southern California, raising ocean temperatures by several degrees Celsius. The Blob had an extreme effect on Alaska in particular. […]
Massive Alaskan Bird Die-Off Shocks Scientists
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 […]
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 […]