182 | Chapter 10
On the Australian sub- Antarctic island of Macquarie, rabbits caused
immense damage to the island’s vegetation and seabird habitat. Over a
span of almost 50 years, their eradication required the introduction of
fleas followed by the myxoma virus and then the application of 300
tonnes of poison bait. Undoing the damage caused on islands by alien
species is by no means easy.
Nevertheless, projects to eradicate these alien mammal species are
now numerous; over 1,000 have been undertaken. Most are successful
and, provided sensible quarantine is observed, offer the prospect of a
conservation gain in perpetuity. Their execution can range from the
apocalyptic shooting of goats from a helicopter, the technique used to
rid northern Isabela in the Galápagos of over 100,000 goats, to the more
high- tech. Rat eradication on larger islands now regularly uses helicop-
ters guided by GPS to broadcast swathes of poison bait pellets. The pre-
cision guidance ensures that, almost literally, no square metre of ground
fails to receive a pellet from the sky.
Such island restoration ventures are a boon to seabirds but are gener-
ally achieved without the benefit of the extra knowledge of the seabirds
themselves that has come from modern gadgetry. However onshore con-
servation does make use of this gadgetry in unanticipated ways.
One onshore conservation problem is light pollution. In particular
the young of seabird species fledging at night are attracted to lights
ashore,* especially during new moon periods. Instead of flying or swim-
ming out to sea, the youngsters find themselves in unexpected and un-
suitable places on land. In the Outer Hebrides, young Atlantic Puffins
on St Kilda wander into the island settlement on Hirta. A little to the
east, towards the mainland of Scotland, Manx Shearwaters fledging in
autumn from the island of Rum should be bound for the South Atlan-
tic. Any bird rescued from the streets of the nearby fishing port of Mal-
laig is definitely confused. Fledging Hornby’s Storm Petrels appear in
thoroughfares of the northern Chilean city of Antofagasta in July every
year, to be rescued by a local conservation group. This seasonal fall- out
- (^) Just why nocturnally- active seabirds should, like moths, be attracted to light is not entirely
clear – but the fact is they are.