Agreement reached in lawsuit to protect Kauai seabirds

The St. Regis Princeville Resort will reduce its lighting and fund programs aimed at restoring populations of threatened Newell’s Shearwaters and endangered Hawaiian Petrels under an agreement reached on Oct. 8 with Earthjustice, Hui Ho‘omalu I Ka ‘Aina, Conservation Council for Hawaii, Center for Biological Diversity and American Bird Conservancy.

Experts say Kauai’s seabirds use the moon’s reflection on the water to help guide them to the ocean and are attracted to lights that create the same effect.  Fledglings are particularly vulnerable. Some birds are attracted to the Resort’s lights and get confused, circling until they land on the ground from exhaustion or strike a building. Once on land, these birds cannot take off again from a flat surface. 

“During a recent remodel, the resort consulted with experts and implemented additional measures to reduce seabird attraction.  In the spirit of cooperation, we were pleased to work with the conservation groups’ experts and identify additional ways to further reduce lighting during the fledging season,” said Milton Sgarbi, resort general manager.

“The parties worked together cooperatively to identify additional lighting reductions that will help reduce the number of seabirds that come down at the resort and, at the same time, allow the St. Regis to continue to provide its guests with a safe and enjoyable experience,” said Earthjustice attorney David Henkin. In addition, since seabirds may still be attracted to the remaining lights at the resort, the Resort will make contributions to off-site projects aimed at protecting the seabirds. 

This agreement resolves the conservation groups’ lawsuit, which was filed in May 2010.

Meanwhile, federal wildlife biologists on Maui are asking for the public's help in helping the populations of native petrels and shearwaters recover. Wildlife experts say when the birds leave their nests for the first time, they sometimes become disoriented by lights, fly in circles, then become tired and fall to the ground, where they are vulnerable to predators, such as feral cats, dogs and rats.

Because of a new moon coinciding with the start of the fledgling period, biologists at Haleakala National Park are concerned that more birds than usual may fall. Biologists are asking people who may come upon one of the grounded birds to call park officials.