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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