The View from Destruction: One Island, Twelve Thousand Birds or So, and their Futures
March 21, 2023
Eric Wagner, PhD
5:00 PT / 7:00 CT / 8:00 ET
Every spring, more than ten thousand rhinoceros auklets arrive at Destruction Island, off the outer coast of Washington, to breed. And for more than ten years, a small team of biologists has visited Destruction to monitor how the auklets are faring. The northeastern Pacific where Destruction Island sits is one of the most productive ecosystems on the planet, but this part of the sea-world has of late experienced a variety of shifts and upheavals. Are all these shifts and upheavals abnormal? Or are they the new normal? In this talk, biologist Eric Wagner will discuss the ongoing research on the rhinoceros auklets of Destruction Island (and beyond), and talk about what these furtive birds can show us about the larger world in which they try to make their living.
Eric Wagner is a researcher at the Center for Ecosystem Sentinels at the University of Washington, where he also completed his Ph.D. in biology. He studies Magellanic penguins at their colony at Punta Tombo, Argentina, and, closer to home, rhinoceros auklets at colonies in Washington. In addition to his research, he writes about science, animals, and the environment. His essays and journalism have appeared in The Atlantic, Audubon, Orion, and High Country News. He is also the author of three books, including, most recently, After the Blast: The Ecological Recovery of Mount St. Helens. He lives in Seattle with his family.
More info here: Adult Programs | Feiro Marine Life Center