Viatouch
Teacher Articles
Science
Paradise and the Pirate Bird
by Randi Mrvos
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The frigate bird is named after the 18th-century seafaring war vessels.
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Pull out an atlas or find a world map. Can you locate the island of Nauru? I'll give you a hint: look in the Pacific Ocean near the eastern shore of Australia. Do you see a tiny oval-shaped island? Nauru was once a tropical paradise, a place where frigate birds called home. But now these sea-soaring birds rarely visit.
Frigate birds are light-weight flying machines, weighing about three pounds and having a wingspan of eight feet. They can fly over the ocean for days at a time, often without flapping their wings. And while they're excellent fliers, frigate birds don't swim—their feathers aren't waterproof. What's more, they can't walk well. Blame it on their short legs and small feet.
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During mating season, the male frigate bird inflates a red pouch below the bill to attract a mate.
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Though frigate birds catch flying fish, squid, and jellyfish, they steal many meals from other seabirds. They chase birds, yank their tail feathers, and terrorize their victims into abandoning or vomiting their food. You can see why they're nick-named "the pirate bird."
Frigate birds live, mate, and rest on tropical coasts around the world. But Nauru has been crossed off their list. The island is now a wasteland.
Yet Nauru wasn't always so bare. When the frigate birds flocked to Nauru, they deposited guano (otherwise known as bird excrement) on the ground. The guano enriched the soil with phosphate. This helped coconut palms, figs, and wild cherries to grow. Nauru became a tropical haven for the animals and for the Polynesian people who lived there.
Then in the early 1900s, the phosphate rock of the island was discovered and mined. It was exported as a fertilizer, making Nauruans among the world's richest people.
Over the years however, business mismanagement and depletion of phosphate ore drove Nauru to the edge of financial ruin. When the expensive mining equipment could not be maintained, the capacity to produce and export phosphate was lost. It's like taking care of a car. If a car is not properly serviced, it won't last very long.
After more than a century of phosphate mining, the interior of Nauru known as Topside, looks like the surface of the moon. In order to mine the ore, trees were chopped down and the soil was removed. Though some vegetation grows as a thin strip round the shore, the landscape is dotted with deep pits and tall coral pillars.
To make matters worse, Topside sends warm air into the Pacific sky so rapidly and so strongly that any cloud formation above the island is broken up. Fewer clouds mean less rainfall. And when rain is scarce, there's little chance for vegetation to grow. Nauru's situation is strange—it misses out on the rain, clouds, and sea breezes that other Pacific islands enjoy.
Yet, Nauru has been given a second chance. In 2006, the international chemical manufacturer Incitec Pivot and the Nauruan Phosphate company, Ronphos teamed together to help Nauru. The two companies repaired the mining equipment and restored the rock processing plant at Nauru.
Now secondary phosphate located beneath the exposed pillars can be mined. In fact, it's estimated that secondary phosphate could be mined for up to thirty years. Reestablishing phosphate mining will help boost Nauru's economy. It could also fund the cost of restoring Topside. Indeed, a team of scientists thinks that paradise can return to Nauru.
As far back as 1990, there had been plans to rehabilitate the island. But the decline of phosphate production and the frittering away of the nation's investment trust fund meant that recovery could not yet be done—until now.
Here's the present plan: first, the coral pillars will be leveled. Then soil from neighboring countries will be brought in and sterilized against unwanted bacteria. Next, areas for housing, farming, and water reservoirs will be developed.
And that's not all. The heartland of the island will be replanted with traditional Polynesian shrubs and tropical trees. Animals will be re-colonized. Plus, birdlife will be re-introduced. So that's good news for the frigate bird. If all goes according to plan, pirate birds will return to the island of Nauru.
The author wishes to thank Darren Jarvis, Project Manager - Business Development
Incitec Pivot Limited for his expertise.
Resources:
Burger, Joanna. Birds: A Visual Guide. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books, 2006.
Clausen, Lisa. "Can Nauru Stay Afloat?" Time International (South Pacific Edition) 20, (May 24, 2004):11.
Clausen, Lisa. "Will Nauru Get a Second Chance?" Time International (South Pacific Edition) 50, (December 20, 2004): 34.
Davies, Lynda. Fertilizer International 411, (March - April 2009):40-44.
De Roy, Tui. "Whose funny valentine?" National Wildlife 33, i.2 (Feb - March 1995):16-18.
Jarvis, Darren, Project Manager - Business Development Incitec Pivot Limited, personal communication, 6/10/09.
Keyser, Amber. "Bird pirates strike again!" Odyssey 17, i.6 (July-August 2008):39-41.
Lambert, Mike and Alan Pearson. An Instant Guide to Seabirds. NY: Bonanza Books, 1988.
Lynch, John. The Weather. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books, 2002.
National Audubon Society: Familiar Birds of Sea and Shore. NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1994.
Pacific Paydirt; Broadcast: 8/12/2008 3:39:47 PM; Reporter: Sean Dorney.
Page, Jack and Eugene Morton. Lords of the Air: The Smithsonian Book of Birds. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books, 1989.
Sibley, David. The Sibley Guide to Birdlife and Behavior. NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 2001.
Internet:
http://www.fatbirder.com/links_geo/australasia/nauru.html
http://tolweb.org/Fregatidae
http://www.eeb.cornell.edu/winkler/botw/fregatidae.html
http://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/nauru/nauru_brief.html
http://www.abc.net.au/landline/content/2006/s2176130.htm
http://www.barbudaful.net/barbudasamorouspirates.html
http://www.susanscott.net/OceanWatch2000/oct16-00.html
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=28245&Cr=general+assembly&Cr1=debate
