Wednesday, July 9, 1997
What ever happened to the project to attract Laysan albatrosses to Black Rock (Kaohikaipu islet) off Makapuu? Albatross project
off to slow startThe project was started in 1993 to attract albatrosses to the area using ceramic eggs, decoys and recorded bird calls.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials along with some advocacy groups wanted to start a colony on the offshore state bird refuge to protect the species from people and development on the main islands.
Biologists originally hoped to see young albatrosses nesting within three years, but there is still no nesting, said Mark Weber, refuge manager for U.S. Fish and Wildlife service.
"It's going a little slower than we hoped," Weber said. But biologists are still encouraged by the signs of adolescent albatrosses visiting the islet.
Between Nov. 29, 1996, and April 29 of this year, albatrosses were seen on 15 of the 135 days observers were recording.
Weber said he hopes those adolescent birds, which are not yet old enough to mate, will return to the island to nest because albatrosses tend to bond strongly with their birthplace.
By Candace Meierdiercks, Star-Bulletin