Natuurramp: ramp voor de natuur

Raising Islands--Hawai'i science and environment

THE source of news about science and the environment as they relate to the Hawaiian Islands, hosted by veteran science reporter Jan TenBruggencate. Issues covered include archaeology, astronomy, botany, climate science, conservation, efficient transportation, geology, marine sciences, sustainability and zoology, with occasional forays into other areas, including traditional navigation and canoe voyaging.

Tsunami death toll at Midway alone: more than 110,000 albatrosses

Federal wildlife officials are now estimating that more than 110,000 albatrosses were killed at Midway Atoll alone, from the tsunami waves that swept across nesting areas March 11.

“Surveys of the Refuge reveal that more than 110,000 Laysan and black-footed albatross chicks – about 22 percent of this year’s albatross production – were lost as a result of the tsunami and two severe winter storms preceding it in January and February. At least 2000 adults were also killed,” said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in an emailed statement.

(Image: Total losses at Laysan Island are not known. This image, taken before the Laysan federal wildlife crew was evacuated, displays some of the impact. The team reported that the entire coast was inundated by the tsunami, in many cases well into the vegetated areas. The debris includes remains of a research station that was overwashed. Credit: USFWS Pacific.)

Four major waves crashed through Midway Atoll, entirely overwashing small Spit Island, and partially overwashing Sand and Eastern Islands. The albatross are ground-nesting birds. Only four chicks remain on Spit, which once held nearly 1,500.

Immediately following the tsunami, Refuge staff estimated tens of thousands of albatross chicks had been lost, along with about 1000 adults. After initially concentrating on freeing approximately 300 entrapped or waterlogged birds with assistance from a small group of visitors there participating in a natural history tour, and waiting for danger from the tsunami to pass, biologists turned their attention to surveying the damage. “The results were both startling and disheartening,” Stieglitz said. 

“This tsunami was indeed a disaster at many levels, including for wildlife.” bron.
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