Every year around 3,500 Cory’s Shearwater chicks are rescued in Tenerife due to their vulnerability to glare caused by lights. And it is estimated that it is only 40% of the total, which means that another 1,500 die from the light impact. The same thing happens with bats, although there is less data on what happens with them.
This situation is what has led the National Research Plan to include work that is carried out in the Barranco del Infierno (Adeje) and is led by the scientist Airam Rodríguez, from the National Museum of Natural Sciences, belonging to the Higher Research Council. Scientific (CSIC).
The objective is to know how different types of lights, proposed by the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands (IAC), impact on Cory’s shearwaters and bats, which will receive the results for future regulations on the luminaires allowed in places such as Tenerife and La Palma, where these are restricted by the so-called Law of Heaven.
The team that works with the Canarian researcher is international. He carries out field work with two other people in the Barranco del Infierno from August 1 until next week. However, the results will be analyzed in places such as the Balearic Islands, Madrid or Poland, as explained to this newspaper.
“We chose this area because it is a relatively well-conserved place and where it is easy to place the GPS on the shearwaters, as well as place the sound recorders and cameras in the case of the shearwaters. To see the behavior of the bats we use ultrasound detectors,” says Airam Rodríguez himself.
In addition to the corresponding scientific publication, the results will seek to improve the aforementioned lighting regulations in La Palma and Tenerife, to preserve shearwaters and bats. As is well known, the Canary Islands are subject to the Law on the Protection of the Astronomical Quality of the Observatories of the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands, of October 31, 1988, a pioneering norm that inspired laws in other Spanish communities and in countries such as Chile. , Hawaii or Italy.
From this arise restrictions of all kinds on the lighting used on the islands with observatories. This research, however, could be essential to preserve the two species, one of which, the shearwater, is in a vulnerable situation.
“Every night – indicates Airam Rodríguez – we project one type of light and others none, to see the different behaviors. We are doing it with an amber light, which is very widespread in La Palma, for example, especially on the roads, and a light that is whiter. They are the two most restrictive proposed by the IAC, although the first is more restrictive than the second. At the moment, it does seem that amber is the most benign,” he says.
