Extinction Awareness Day

The Great Auk was the “penguin of the north". This 30 inch flightless bird ranged along most of the north Atlantic, but its nesting areas made it vulnerable to hunters.  They were often herded in mass numbers by passing sailors for meat or for feathers for pillows. One of the last major breeding islands on Funk Island was destroyed in a volcanic eruption.   The last documented breeding pair was killed on Eldey Island off the southwest coast of Iceland on July 3, 1844.  The men who killed this pair reportedly crushed an egg in the process.   There may have been a few other sightings after this date, but July 3, 1844 is usually set as the Great Auk's extinction date. Additional Resources: *  http://www.birdorable.com/meet/great-auk/ *  http://www.lostbirdfilm.org/explore_greatauk *  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HU2l2Jmhu4   (film by David Min - junior reporter) *  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIL357oO_l4  (...

There are places you go in life that have a tranquil, slightly eerie feeling.  That is how I felt when my wife and I visited Iceland over the summer to celebrate 10 years of marriage.  We did all of the touristy places , but on the last day I told her I'd like to find the Great Auk statue that was somewhere an hour away from Reykjavik where we were staying. I had seen taken my family into DC last year to see the Museum of Natural History's presentation of "The Lost Bird" project by artist Todd McGrain.   http://www.lostbirdproject.org/ He had created 5 bronze statues of different extinct North American birds and placed each in the location where they went extinct.   He focused on the great auk, the heath hen, the passenger pigeon, the Carolina parakeet, and the Labrador duck.  The first four birds are characters in my book, so of course I took an interest. Through reading about The Lost Bird Project, I found out where the statues were placed, which du...