Covid-19 Kept Tourists Away. Why Did These Seabirds Miss Them?

Stora Karol, a Swedish island, is a popular bird watching destination. This year, the birdwatchers didn’t arrive because of COVID-19. This caused the local white-tailed eagle population to remain abnormally high, as the eagles normally leave in response to the uptick in visitor traffic.

The increased eagle population, in turn, caused the island’s common murres to be displaced from their nests (fleeing eagles) an average of 602 minutes per day—vs. the average of 72 minutes in 2019. Consequently, 26% fewer common murres hatched this year compared with the decade average.

It’s fascinating to see the unintended impacts humans can have in an environment even when thinking of ourselves just as observers.