Hope and warning from a 74-year-old albatross
Published: 10 Dec. 2024, 19:51
AHN CHAK-HEE
The author is the head of the global cooperation team at the JoongAng Ilbo.
“SHE DID IT AGAIN!” This post from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) last week announced that an albatross named “Wisdom” laid eggs in Hawaii. The first sentence was in all caps, as Wisdom is the oldest known wild bird at age 74.
The world’s ornithology community is celebrating. Just as four years ago, the last time Wisdom laid eggs, various media rushed to report the news, adding that the male bird that she met this year was the father. Akeakamai, her partner from 2006 to 2021 — whose name means “the one who loves wisdom” in Hawaiian — was not spotted over the past few years. As albatross birds are known to stay with one partner for life, it was presumed that Akeakamai had passed.
Wisdom, a Laysan albatross, was first labeled in 1956 by an ornithologist while laying eggs at a National Wildlife Refuge on the Midway Atoll, the northernmost part of the Hawaiian archipelago. Given the statistics that the species typically has a lifespan of 12 to 40 years, Wisdom’s longevity, as well as nearly 70 years of breeding, is a miracle.
Unlike the romantic image of an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, the beach of Midway is covered with all kinds of plastic waste, large and small, including plastic containers, bags, lighters, toothbrushes and combs. Many birds die after swallowing these plastic objects by mistaking them for food. As the use of plastic became commonplace since the 1950s, Wisdom must have been helplessly watching the plastic taking over her habitat, which had been a clean region. Michael Gavshon, who produced a CBS documentary on Wisdom five years ago, said that if Wisdom could talk, she would have testified about the environmental destruction she witnessed over the span of decades.
It is very rare for an albatross to live as long as Wisdom. Probably because of her namesake or pure luck, Wisdom has survived through all kinds of manmade dangers, including the tsunami that hit Midway in 2011 following Great East Japan Earthquake as well as the increased usage of plastic. The world is paying attention to how long this symbol of hope will be able to stay in the atoll and brood her eggs. Each day is critical, and everyone is watching and praying Wisdom’s eggs will hatch safely in a few weeks.
The author is the head of the global cooperation team at the JoongAng Ilbo.
“SHE DID IT AGAIN!” This post from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) last week announced that an albatross named “Wisdom” laid eggs in Hawaii. The first sentence was in all caps, as Wisdom is the oldest known wild bird at age 74.
The world’s ornithology community is celebrating. Just as four years ago, the last time Wisdom laid eggs, various media rushed to report the news, adding that the male bird that she met this year was the father. Akeakamai, her partner from 2006 to 2021 — whose name means “the one who loves wisdom” in Hawaiian — was not spotted over the past few years. As albatross birds are known to stay with one partner for life, it was presumed that Akeakamai had passed.
Wisdom, a Laysan albatross, was first labeled in 1956 by an ornithologist while laying eggs at a National Wildlife Refuge on the Midway Atoll, the northernmost part of the Hawaiian archipelago. Given the statistics that the species typically has a lifespan of 12 to 40 years, Wisdom’s longevity, as well as nearly 70 years of breeding, is a miracle.
Unlike the romantic image of an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, the beach of Midway is covered with all kinds of plastic waste, large and small, including plastic containers, bags, lighters, toothbrushes and combs. Many birds die after swallowing these plastic objects by mistaking them for food. As the use of plastic became commonplace since the 1950s, Wisdom must have been helplessly watching the plastic taking over her habitat, which had been a clean region. Michael Gavshon, who produced a CBS documentary on Wisdom five years ago, said that if Wisdom could talk, she would have testified about the environmental destruction she witnessed over the span of decades.
It is very rare for an albatross to live as long as Wisdom. Probably because of her namesake or pure luck, Wisdom has survived through all kinds of manmade dangers, including the tsunami that hit Midway in 2011 following Great East Japan Earthquake as well as the increased usage of plastic. The world is paying attention to how long this symbol of hope will be able to stay in the atoll and brood her eggs. Each day is critical, and everyone is watching and praying Wisdom’s eggs will hatch safely in a few weeks.
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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