MONTEREY / The teaching albatross / Aquarium visitors learn about the dangers of plastics to ocean birds
Published 4:00 am, Thursday, June 21, 2007
2007-06-21 04:00:00 PDT Monterey -- If her life had worked out differently, an albatross named Makana would be flying over the Aleutian Islands right about now. Instead, she was riding the elevator down to the second floor of the aquarium. It was 2 in the afternoon. Showtime.
Every year, plastic debris kills 40 percent of newly hatched albatross chicks at Makana's birthplace, the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge near the northwest end of the Hawaiian Islands archipelago.
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"Their parents see shiny things on the surf, ingest them and regurgitate them to the chicks," Slager said. "It's a slow and painful death."
Plastic garbage was not Makana's problem. She's been permanently grounded because of a dislocated carpus in her left wing -- an injury that has led to a major lifestyle change for her and a new program for the aquarium. For 15 minutes a day, Makana leaves her rooftop aviary and stands on a sand-topped cart while Slager and other staff members introduce her to the public and describe threats to seabirds across the Pacific.
"It's a really unusual opportunity," Slager said. "Normally they're in the sky or at sea most of their lives. They can even sleep while they're flying. They can lock their wings and glide on updrafts off the ocean surface."
Makana was born on Midway Atoll early last year. She was moved to Kauai, along with nine cohorts, in March 2006 as part of a pilot project to help researchers learn how to handle and rear the chicks -- and to eventually apply the knowledge in Japan, relocating a rarer species of albatross on the brink of extinction there.
Five chicks died of bacterial infections, four fledged and the 4-month-old Makana got hurt, according to Brenda Zaun, a biologist with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in the Kauai National Wildlife Refuge Complex.
"We don't know what happened," Zaun said. "We hoped the wing would heal. She'd flap around and try to fly, but she couldn't get airborne. She's never known free flight -- she's never known that freedom."
The seabird's predicament made her a good candidate for life as an education bird and an "ambassador" for her species. Her name is apt, Zaun said. It means "gift" in Hawaiian.
"She was a gift to all of us," Zaun said. "She was a really special bird, and now everybody can learn about albatrosses."
She said she felt "like a salesperson," making desperate calls to find a home for Makana and keep her from being euthanized.
"It's a big responsibility to take on a bird that lives more than 50 years," she said.
The 16-month-old Laysan albatross arrived at Monterey Bay Aquarium in November. She moved into "Valhalla," the master suite in the behind-the-scenes aviary on the roof, in February. She's alone there, much as she would be in the wild.
On Tuesday afternoon, before the show, Makana was splashing in her pool, 10 feet in circumference and 2 feet deep. She nibbled on kelp, played with a green Frisbee and looked at herself in the mirror. Other toys include a basketball, gigantic rubber ducky and a fake purple eggplant that Slager had just bought for her.
"Hey cutie, you want a head scratch?" Slager asked.
She prodded the 5 1/2-pound bird gently with a big broom until she hopped onto a mat, which is soft and squishy to accommodate a species that usually flies thousands of miles a year.
"Normally, albatross don't do a lot of standing around," Slager said.
Makana clambered onto the cart. Except for a quick squirt of guano, she maintained aplomb as Slager and senior aquarist Julia Mariottini pushed her through the hallway, onto the elevator and down to the second floor. It took months of training to make sure the albatross would be calm enough to interact with visitors.
"We've proceeded carefully," Slager said, "for fear of being perceived as abusive or as a pointless entertainment show. We don't want her to jump through rings of fire."
The waiting crowd quickly grew. For most people, an albatross is either a distant speck in the sky glimpsed from a boat, an obese sea gull or something around one's neck -- from "Rime of the Ancient Mariner," the famous poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
Children shouted, "What is it?" Other typical questions: What does she eat? Will she get any bigger? Is this the same thing I saw on my cruise?
Slager said there are 21 species of albatross, and the Laysan is among the most prolific. Makana, although fully grown, won't be sexually mature until age 5. She eats krill, squid and anchovies, and likes to be scratched on her head and under her chin.
"Makana's here to remind us that plastics are a big problem," said Mariottini, who passed around a large tube of junk recovered from the stomach of a young albatross. It included a ballpoint pen shaft, bottle caps and cable tie.
Mariottini added that the United Nations estimated that 46,000 pieces of plastic litter are floating on every square mile of ocean, and she urged people to be more environmentally conscious.
"I had no idea," said Bruce Feldman, a doctor from Albuquerque. "What a beautiful creature. I haven't been recycling and I've been quite delinquent, but this will motivate me."
Makana spread her wings 6 feet wide and preened, ignoring onlookers as she tended to her feathers. That's not always the case. In the week and a half the program has operated, she frequently has stared intently at people.
"It's a little bit like sightseeing for her," Slager said. "At least that's what I anthropomorphically imagine."
The program featuring Makana, a Laysan albatross, takes place at the Monterey Bay Aquarium every day at 2 p.m. Albatross are threatened by marine plastics, trawl and longline fisheries and oil pollution. For information on what people can do to help the species survive, go to the Seafood Watch section of www.montereybayaquarium.org.