Chicks and adults washed into vegetation during Tsunami

Photo By/Credit

Leary, Pete/USFWS

Date Shot/Created
03/14/2011
Media Usage Rights/License
Public Domain
Image
The chicks and adults got washed up into big piles of dead vegetation after a tsunami generated by a powerful earthquake off the coast of Japan struck the refuge at 11:36 PM on Thursday, March 10th and continued for the next few hours. On March 15, FWS released an official announcement stating that surveys of the three islands reveal that more than 110,000 albatross chicks – about 22% of this year’s albatross production – were lost as a result of the tsunami and two severe winter storms that hit in January and February. At least 2,000 adults also died.
Subject tags
Wildlife refuges
Wildlife impacts
Weather impacts
Seabirds
Islands
Coasts
Birds