Traffic up here is thick

ByPettyOfficer2ndClass SamanthaJetzer Pacific Missile Range Facility

When you think of an albatross you may remembertheold1977Disneyanimatedfilm “The Rescuers which depicted two mice, Bernard and Miss Bianca, that worked for the Rescue Aid Society whose mission is to savethoseinneed. In order to reach Devil’s Bayou, Louisiana, from New York City to save an orphan girl from kidnapping, the rescuers received a flight from an overzealous albatross pilot Orville While Orville was a pilot in the movie meshing albatross with aircraft in real life is a major hazard. Even for Orville himself, he ran into some trouble trying to land while he communicated with the control tower at the airport saying,“Look,bud AmIcleartoland?Trafficuphereisthickerthan-Wow!Dab-blast, youdirtyroad-hog!”

This hazard between birds and aircraft is one that the Navy is trying to prevent through the Bird Aircraft Strike Hazard (BASH) program. Navy bases around the world are located in areas where wildlife hazards present significant risks for air and ground strikes Such strikes can result in potential loss of life for flight crews or ground personnel, costly aircraft damage, and degradation of mission capability for Navyinstallationsandtheircustomers This program identifies aviation safety hazards andeffectivelymitigatestheassociatedrisks.

Here in the Hawaiian Islands, Laysan Albatross (known in Hawaiian as mōlī) are themostcommonspeciesofalbatross With a wing span of just over six feet and weighinguptoninepounds,itisveryobviouswhy these birds can become both a danger to aircraftandthemselvesiftheygettooclose.

TheenvironmentalteamatPacificMissile Range Facility (PMRF), Barking Sands, works with the BASH initiative in order to conducttheannualLaysanAlbatrossTranslocation Program. This program conducts searches for albatross eggs on the airfield andotherhazardousareasofthetestingand training facility in order to find them safer homesonotherpartsoftheislandsofKaua`i or O`ahu. This year PMRF worked with many institutions including Pacific Rim Conservation(PRC),KilaueaPointNational WildlifeRefuge(KPNWR),U.S.Department of Agriculture (USDA) Wildlife Services, as wellasprivatepropertiesonthenorthshore of the island. PMRF has been participating inthistranslocationprojectsince2005,with thesitesvaryingeachyear

“The long-term egg translocation program is a success for partnerships at PMRF,” said Brooke McFarland, PMRF’s NaturalResourcesManager “Althoughone of the main goals of the project is to reduce the number of albatross nesting at PMRF, this project also demonstrates the Navy’s commitmenttoworkingwithcommunities topreservetheuniqueecosystemofKaua`i.”

Historically theMānāPlain,wherePMRF islocated wasawetlandusedbyavarietyof birdspecies includingalbatross Theyprefer theopenwindsweptlocationasitisaneasy place to land and take off They also tend to return to where they were born to nest due totheirextremelyacutesenseofdirection.

Egg collecting is one way to reduce the number of birds at PMRF without reducingtheoverallpopulation Albatrosstendto be site specific when finding places to nest. However, they aren’t particularly attached toaneggthattheylay.Theparentswillraise whateverchickcomesoutoftheeggaslong asitishatchedintheirnest.

“It is important for PMRF to move albatross when they are still eggs in order for thechickstoimprintonotherlocationsand not return to PMRF,” stated McFarland. “It will take some time since they live so long but eventually the population here will decrease.”

Albatross can often live to over 70 years old and will mate for life They reproduce about one egg a year from around the time theyaresevenyearsold.Forthisreason,the translocation of eggs will continue to be a long term project that needs careful attentioneveryyear

“Their population is naturally very slow to respond to change,” remarked McFarland. “In the meantime, PMRF uses other measures such as capturing and moving adults away from the airfield to reduce the risktoaircraft.”

The process begins with the collection ofeggs SailorsandotherPMRFemployees gather to conduct the albatross egg sweeps throughoutthebreedingseason Thevolunteers split into multiple groups and search throughvegetativeareasonPMRF’straining range in search of albatross and their nests This year, 67 eggs were found on the installationasaresultofexecutingthesesweeps.

Aftertheeggsarecollected,theyaretaken tobeincubateduntilthe“swapday” Incubators maintain a consistent temperature and humidity just right for the eggs to continue developing This year PCR came to PMRF totestwhichoftheeggsareviable,meaning verifying if the egg is fertilized and developing an embryo, or if they are considered a dead egg They do this through a process calledcandling “Eggs are ‘candled’ with a bright light to see through the shell and see if the embryo is alive,” McFarland explains. “You can see clear blood vessels and some movement in liveembryos anddeadorinfertileeggslook emptyorblurry Sometimes especiallywhen the egg is newly laid, it can be very difficult to tell if it is viable This is why we have an expertmakethefinaldetermination.”

The viable eggs will be collected and passed off to organizations like PRC and KPNWR to bring to the north shore of Kaua`i This year, 27 eggs from PMRF were considered viable. Once at the north shore these scientists conduct the same candling technique to determine which eggs on the north side are viable The ones that are determined as not viable are switched with the eggs from PMRF, thus allowing a north shorealbatrossparenttoraisethechick.

“Translocated eggs and chicks are monitored until they fledge,” continued McFarland. “Over the course of the program, over 700 viable albatross eggs have been moved from PMRF to the north shore of Kaua`i or O`ahu. While not all of those would have fledged, the result is potentially hundreds of albatross returning as adults to other high-island colonies rather than PMRF, whichisawinforthespeciesandforPMRF.”

Eggs that are determined to be not viable are not discarded or destroyed. They are actually sent to the National Institute of Standards and Technology as well as the Seabird Tissue Archival and Monitoring Project in order to retain infertile eggs as partofanefforttostudyenvironmentalqualityovertimeandregions Forexample,some of the eggs are sampled for contaminants andothersmaintainedaspartofalong-term collectionforresearchpurposes.

“We appreciate the Navy’s commitment to this project,” commented Dr Eric VanderWerf director of science and founder of PRC. “It was a pleasure to work with the environmental team. Everything went smoothly We have been doing this projectforanumberofyearsandeverybody knows how things work.”

Translocating the eggs offers them a betterchanceofsurvival,buttherearestill dangersfromotherenvironmentalfactors, such as predators trying to eat the eggs longlinefishingandplasticpollution.Even larger issues are facing the population due to climate change If nesting on low lying island areas, they become vulnerable to storm surges and sea-level rise, which are only becoming more unpredictable due to climate change

“ThisprojecthelpstoincreasetheLaysan Albatross population on Kaua`i by producing additional offspring,” said VanderWerf “The species is threatened by sea level risebecausemostofitsnestingareasinthe Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are just a few feet above sea level. The nesting areas on Kaua`i are higher in elevation and will be safe from sea level rise.”

TranslocatingtheeggsfromPMRFtothe north shore of Kaua`i or O`ahu allows for thehigh-islandpopulationtopersist,which will likely be important to the species in thefuture Theprimarynestingspotforthe majority of these birds is on Midway Atoll, approximately 1,200 miles west of Kaua`i. If sea level rise makes that island uninhabitable,thenextprimaryspotforthebirdsto nest is Kaua`i.

“They are already experiencing the effects of climate change,” VanderWerf elaborated. “Some of their nesting areas have already washed away and others are under threat. Climate change and sea level rise are not something that might happen someday, it is already happening.”

Theworktopreservethesenativespecies is instrumental in the overall wellbeing of not just the island, but the health of the entire ecosystem for generations to come

Albatrossaretrulyawondertoobserve.It isn’tdifficulttoseewhytraditionalHawaiiansreveredalbatrossasmasternavigators with a strong tie to their homeland as they spend most of their lives at sea.

In the words of Miss Bianca to Bernard inTheRescuerswhenshedelightedlysees Orville fly for the first time she exclaims, “Look! There he is! Doesn’t he fly beautifully?Andyouwantedtotakethetrain,you ‘fraidy cat.”

For more information about PMRF’s environmental program, please call the Natural Resources Hotline at (808) 208-4416, or visit https://cnrh.cnic.navy mil/Installations/PMRF-Barking-Sands/

SevenVenues is very proud to announce that internationally renowned Cirque Du Soleil returns to the Norfolk Scope arena, thisThursdayJanuary26ththroughSunday January 29th with their most enchanting arena production of Corteo which means “cortege”inItalian.Itisajoyousprocession, a festive parade imagined by a clown who pictures his own funeral taking place in a carnival, circus atmosphere, watched over byquietlycaringangels

The international cast represents more than 18 nationalities Performers are from Argentina, Armenia, Belarus Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Columbia Finland, France, Hungary Italy Japan,Kazakhstan Romania Russia, United Kingdom, Ukraine, United StatesandUzbekistan.

This incredible, very unique production of Corteo, directed by Daniele Finzi Pasca, had its world premiere under the Big Top in April, 2005 in Montreal, Canada and has sincethen,amazedwellover10millionfans, inover20countriesonfourcontinents.

For more info go to https://www.sevenvenues.com/events/detail/cirque-corteo Yiorgo: With us on the phone today is Gonzalo Muñoz Ferrer who plays Mauro the Dreamer Clown. Tell us Gonzalo, why shouldpeoplecometoseeCorteo,whatwill theyseeandhear?

GonzaloMuñozFerrer:Weareafamily show. It is the first time we are in Norfolk with this show and we can not wait to tell everyone this story Everyone will have a fantastictime.Themostinspirationalthing for me about the show Corteo is that it is a celebration of life. That is the main theme even though it is also the funeral or how to saygoodbyetoaclown.

This show, Corteo, has been the best one out of all of the different Cirque shows that has gone from a tent into the arena It is a very delicate process because when you carry your tent to a place you carry your house So, you invite people to your house, they enter and you can create a whole world Whenyougotoanarena,yougotoa spacethathasbeenusedforhockey,basketball and other forms of entertainment. So you go merely to an anonymous place. To be able to enter an arena and make people feel at home is not easy I have heard from many, many people from our headquarters in Montreal, Canada that this show is the exception When people enter the Norfolk Scope arena this week, they will feel like they have entered another world That is the maximum complement that we can receive because the audience is no longer inthatarenabutsomewhereelse.Itiswhat we performers enjoy the most, to be able to carry people away from their normal lives andentertainthemforseveralhours

Y:Withoutgivingawaytoomuch,whoare youinCorteoandwhatisitabout?

GMF: I am Mauro the Dreamer Clown, and all his friends his family, his lovers the more important people in his life come to saytheirgoodbyestohiminthevocabulary of the circus So it is akindofametaphor. It is with such positive energy, it is a celebration of life It is fantastic. People laugh and cry Itisveryemotionalbecauseourdirector DanieleFinziPasca,hasthisimportantattributetomovethepeople Shewantstocaress thepeople,totouchtheheartandsoulofthe people.ItisthemostpoeticshowthatCirque Du Soleil has ever produced. And whereas in all the other Cirque shows the performers wear a lot of makeup, in Corteo there is verylittlemakeup Thedirectorwantstosee the performers and their personalities. For me,thiscastisveryparticular,verysensitive

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VIRGINIABEACH, Va SomepeoplecelebrateValentine’sDaywithroses candy andexpensivedinners.Notus!

The Virginia Aquarium Foundation is launching the Love Bites Fundraiser today as a way for those who are not in a “happilyeverafter relationshiptocelebrateValentine’sDay inahumorousway.Thejilted,theromanticallyrejected,or thosewhoareenthusiasticallycelebratingtheirsinglestatus can symbolically name a feeder item, such as a rat, a worm, or a roach, which will be consumed by one of the Virginia Aquarium’s resident animals Expanding on the popularity ofthelastyear’sfundraiser,the2023LoveBitesFundraiser provides several options all found online at https://one bidpal.net/lovebites2023/welcome Between9am,January23,2023,and12noon,February14, 2023exploreourmenuoffeeders,nominallypricedbetween $5and$50.Whichoneremindsyoumostofyourex?Isitthe deadratorfish?Acreepycrawlycricket,roach,orworm?Or just a dull vegetable? Purchase a feeder item, and our residents will devour it. You’ll quickly receive a fun video of an animaleatingthatfeederitem,andavalentinewithyourex’s namethatyoucanshareonsocialmedia.

Didyourexreallymakelastyeardifficult?Feelingtheneed forsomethingextra?Optforthe$150LoveBitesFundraiser personalizedvideotohearacustomizedmessagewhileyou watchyour“ex”disappearintothemouthofahappyanimal. Of course, you’ll also receive a unique valentine to share as well. This opportunity is available to purchase between 9 am, January 23 2023, and 11:59 pm, January 31 2023 with thevideoandvalentinesenttoyounolaterthanFebruary14 2023 Asthisiscustomized,quantitiesarelimited.

“Seal” your love this Valetine’s with a framed, pink and red sparkly 11x14 seal painting done by Hector, one of the Aquarium’sresidentHarborSeals.Don’tdon’tdelay,bidding on the seal painting starts 9 am, January 23, 2023, and ends