The Tenerife Council, through the Natural Environment and Safety Management area, has collected a total of 3,351 shearwaters that fell in their attempt to take their first flight to the ocean in the 2021 campaign, which started in mid-October and has now ended.
This campaign is coordinated by the Cabildo Wildlife Recovery Center (La Tahonilla) and consists of rescuing juvenile shearwaters injured by disorientation mainly due to light pollution.
“The collaboration of volunteers is essential in the development of this campaign,” said the Minister of Natural Environment Management, Isabel García, who pointed out that “for years, groups such as ADAE in Arona, firefighters in the municipality of Arona, have actively participated. San Miguel, ECAN of Guía de Isora and Santiago del Teide, Rumbo Ziday, Atina, Seo BirdLife, Civil Protection of Arafo as well as local police, Civil Guard and Civil Protection groups and associations, as well as Environmental Agents of the Cabildo, doing join the work that without them would not be possible “.
During this campaign, 3,351 shearwaters were collected, of which 95.5%, 3,200 specimens, were released, the majority in the south of the island.
Adeje (1026) and Arona (826) were the municipalities with the highest number of injured birds and if we compare these data with those of 2018, an increase of 27% in recovered specimens can be seen.
It must be taken into account, they specify from the Cabildo, that this comparison is made based on these two years in particular because the conditions have been similar, highlighting above all “the luminosity of the moon, since if there is a full moon there is less accidents because the shearwaters go towards it and not towards the light of the city and if there is a new moon, the opposite happens, “said Alejandro Suárez, a veterinarian at the Cabildo Center.
