Light pollution kills petrels in New Caledonia
 
In New Caledonia, every year mostly between April and May, seabirds strand themselves en masse during the night in the streets of towns and villages. To analyze this phenomenon, the present study aimed at: (1) Identifying the seabird species affected; (2) Describing the distribution of groundings at the scale of New Caledonia and in more detail, at the scale of the city of Nouméa; (3) Identifying the factors involved. Most seabirds grounded were wedge-tailed shearwaters (Ardenna pacifica). The threatened Gould’s petrel (Pterodroma leucoptera) ranked second and the near-threatened Tahiti petrel (Pseudobulweria rostrata) ranked third. About 65% of the stranded individuals were young of the year at the time of their departure from their burrows. One third to one half of the grounded petrels died. These results point to a highly significant, negative impact of artificial lighting. They call for the urgent implementation of light-pollution reduction policies in New Caledonia. 

Grounded Gould's petrel in a street in Noumea (credit: Philippe Borsa / IRD)

Read the full article, published by Zoological Studies, here

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