May 22, 2020
How do you rescue a grounded Laysan albatross from a California meadow? Call in the hui.
In Hawaii, we use the term hui (WHO-ee) to mean a club or partnership, and although there’s no formal albatross hui, just get the word out that one of these seabirds needs help, and a hui of bird lovers forms almost instantly.
That happened March 31st when a Laysan albatross got sidetracked from the open ocean and landed in a field in Soquel, an area in Santa Cruz county about 75 miles south of San Francisco. The property’s caretaker found the bird and contacted a neighbor.
Word spread fast, and soon seabird biologist, Jessie Beck, who works for the nonprofit Oikonos Ecosystems Knowledge (http://oikonos.org),captured the lost albatross and drove it to the SPCA for Monterey County.
Oikonos biologist, Jessie Beck, captures the lost Laysan. © Ryan Meeks
From there, the bird got a ride to the International Bird Rescue facility (bird-rescue.org ) in Fairfield, about 50 miles northeast of San Francisco.
© Jeff Manker
On April 11th, JD Bergeron, the director of that waterbird rescue organization, drove the healthy bird to Moss Landing Harbor. There, the ocean safari company, Fast Raft (fastraft.com), donated their 33-foot-long boat and crew to take the bird 10 miles offshore to a nutrient-rich part of Monterey Bay.
© Jeff Manker
By chance at sea, the rescuers found, bobbing on the water’s surface, a black-footed albatross, another of our three northern hemisphere albatross species (the third is the rare short-tailed albatross.) During the release of the Laysan albatross, a dozen or so other black-footed albatrosses showed up.
© Jan Loomis
This was no coincidence. Black-footed albatrosses have learned that some boats carry fish and squid, and the birds often show up near vessels in this area.
When the rescuers opened the cage door, the Laysan albatross returned to its home in the Pacific.
No one knows where the Laysan albatross came from, but individuals of the species sometimes stray to California. Isla Guadalupe, an island off the Pacific coast of Baja, Mexico, hosts a Laysan albatross colony, and Hawaii’s albatrosses routinely fly thousands of miles in search of food.
In learning about this rescue, I discovered a long list of caring people who texted, emailed, photographed, captured, doctored, skippered, crewed, and drove hundreds of miles, all to help one albatross. Clearly, they believe the motto of International Bird Rescue: every bird matters.
Thank you, California Albatross Hui, for venturing out of your homes to save this bird, and for sharing the story. It’s something we all need right about now: a heartwarming tale of love in the time of covid.
JD Bergeron, CEO of International Bird Rescue. © Jan Loomis.