SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Nov. 17 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Tahonilla Wildlife Recovery Center, dependent on the Cabildo de Tenerife, has rescued nearly 2,000 specimens of Cinderella shearwater chicks after being dazzled, slightly more than half of the shearwaters rescued last year on the island –3,353 specimens–, despite the mitigating effect of the moon.
For SEO/BirdLife it is still “worrying” that so many chickens have been affected by this “pressing problem” to which must be added the birds that fall and are not detected in time, being able to die of hunger, run over or victims of the cats that prowl in the public space without control.
This problem, the organization points out in a note, affects all the islands, so the number of affected individuals could triple.
“The cause of this drop in rescued shearwaters is most likely attributed to the coincidence in time between the hatching peak of the chicks and the full Moon on November 8. Taking it as a reference, the artificial lights become relatively less bright , which helps small birds to orient themselves to the sea and not fall dazzled by light pollution”, explains Javier Romero, coordinator of the SEO/BirdLife Life Natura@night project.
VOLUNTEER BRIGADES
SEO/BirdLife has been collaborating for years in the island campaign to rescue the Cory’s Shearwater in Tenerife, involving a group of volunteers in the municipalities of La Laguna, Santa Cruz, El Rosario, Candelaria, Güímar and Arafo.
In addition, this year it has launched, for the first time, within the ‘Life Natura@night’ project, systematic seabird rescue brigades, also with the help of volunteers.
The objective of this pilot action carried out in the municipalities of Buenavista del Norte in Tenerife and Mogán in Gran Canaria is to improve the data for collecting injured shearwaters, relating them to the type of lighting, which will serve to make changes in both public and outdoor outdoor lighting. as private.
CITIZEN SURVEY
This work is also reinforced with a citizen survey to assess the social perception of light pollution in Macaronesia, which has just been launched by SEO/BirdLife and SPEA (BirdLife in Portugal).
The questions not only seek to take the social pulse of this problem, but also to teach about the artificial lights in our closest environment and the solutions that are within our reach to reverse their impact.
In addition, the survey will be carried out in person in the pilot municipalities collaborating with the project, that is, Mogán in Gran Canaria and Buenavista del Norte in Tenerife.
The intention is to cover a representative sample of the local population (approximately 5-10% of the census of each municipality) so that the analysis of the responses yields reliable conclusions.
The survey will be repeated at the end of the project in order to measure the effectiveness of the environmental awareness and education actions planned.
At the request of SEO/BirdLife, the Club Náutico de Bajamar facilities, located on the coast of La Laguna, next to a breeding area for the Canary Shearwater, have adapted the exterior lighting of their facilities to reduce the impact of light pollution. about seabirds.
The club had become in recent years, due to excessive lighting, a black spot for dazzled chickens to fall during the hatching season — from mid-October to mid-November.
Especially during the nights of the new moon, the shearwaters turn artificial lights into their reference point for orientation, and they end up dazzled by falling to the ground.
“The change of luminaires carried out by the Club Náutico de Bajamar is a good example that, when there is a will, it is possible to make a difference, given that the technical solutions already exist and are more accessible every day to all budgets, demonstrating with the reorientation of its lights and its new placement, which in this case is not about lighting less, but lighting better”, says Romero.
