In Tenerife, provisional figures indicate that at least 3,250 young seabirds were rescued during a dramatic period from 15 October to 15 November. The majority were Cory’s Shearwaters, a striking reminder of how light pollution disrupts natural behavior in coastal and tourist zones. The surge in rescues reflects a wider challenge faced across Spain, where excessive urban illumination often coincides with seabird distress and displacement.
The rescue campaign rolled out across several municipalities, including La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, El Rosario, Candelaria, Güímar and Arafo, with the essential aid of volunteers. The most intense days for strandings occurred between 6 and 12 November, underscoring the sharp spike in incidents tied to seasonal lighting. After securing the injured birds, teams transported them to the La Tahonilla Wildlife Rescue Center for stabilization and later released them near the coast to encourage their first flights. (Source: Life Natura@night)
Citizen cooperation played a crucial role, with many birds identified and collected following calls to the emergency number 112 or the regional line 900 28 22 28 for Tenerife. This collaborative response demonstrates how rapid, community-based action can mitigate harm to vulnerable seabird populations. (Source: Life Natura@night)
Life Natura@night Project
For the second consecutive year, the campaign to gather dazzling seabirds was incorporated into the Life Natura@night initiative. The effort relies on scientific seabird rescue brigades and the support of volunteers who have received specialized training for this purpose. (Source: Life Natura@night)
Across pilot municipalities — Buenavista del Norte in Tenerife and Mogán in Gran Canaria — the program aims to improve data on the capture of spotted shearwaters and to analyze how lighting types influence these events. The findings are used to guide changes in both public and private outdoor lighting to reduce glare and skyglow. (Source: Life Natura@night)
Life Natura@night is a European-funded effort designed to raise awareness and spur action against artificial night light effects across 27 protected areas in the Macaronesian archipelago, including Madeira, the Azores, and the Canary Islands. (Source: Life Natura@night)
Autumn rescue campaigns in Madeira led to the recovery of 123 birds through the dedication of 93 volunteers. In the Azores, more than 300 volunteers saved 119 seabirds on Graciosa, 154 on Corvo and 357 on São Miguel. Across six of the twenty islands in the Macaronesian tri-archipelago, these numbers illustrate the scale of the issue. It is estimated that about 1,100 seabirds die each year due to light pollution, posing a serious threat to the region’s most endangered seabird species. (Source: Life Natura@night)
Symbolic Lighting Interruption
A symbolic power outage was staged on October 30 in several pilot zones across the three archipelagos where the project operates, including Mogán in the Canary Islands. Public lighting was paused that evening, with many hotels joining in from 18:30 to 20:00. The aim was to raise public awareness about the need to curb light pollution to protect biodiversity and conserve energy. (Source: Life Natura@night)
Life Natura@night builds on decades of work by SPEA and SEO/BirdLife in the Macaronesia region and seeks to go beyond rescuing seabirds by implementing preventive measures to keep them from entering the wild in peril. Local government agencies and lighting companies collaborate to promote more efficient lighting solutions. (Source: Life Natura@night)
In this context, binding lighting plans are being developed and rolled out by local governments, with the expectation that these standards will guide seabird protection and environmentally friendly public lighting across the region. (Source: Life Natura@night)
Harms of Light Pollution
Light pollution affects more than seabirds; it also disrupts numerous nocturnal insects that rely on darkness to thrive. The impact extends to human health, as multiple studies link excessive artificial light to various health issues and to interrupted sleep during night hours. (Source: Life Natura@night)
Scientists emphasize that artificial light is a major obstacle to astronomical observations, effectively washing out stars and diminishing the brightness of nebulae, galaxies, and star clusters. (Source: Life Natura@night)
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