North Shore Times (New Zealand)
Bridge lights could be bad for seabirds
Bird conservationists say Auckland’s newly lit harbour bridge could have a detrimental effect on at least one type of seabird.
Forest and Bird seabird advocate Karen Baird and Birds New Zealand Auckland representative Ian McLean both said Auckland Harbour Bridge’s new artificial lights could disorientate sea birds.
The Auckland Harbour Bridge has been equipped with 90,000 LED lights and 100 floodlights, lighting up every visible beam, arch, pile, girder, strut and pylon. They would be turned on to mark significant dates like Waitangi weekend, Anzac Day and Matariki.
Baird said depending on how bright the Auckland Harbour Bridge’s new floodlights and LED lights were, there could be detrimental impacts to Auckland’s white-faced storm petrel.
‘‘Auckland city lights, in particular the Sky Tower, do impact seabirds especially when young have just fledged and are easily disoriented by lights,’’ Baird said.
‘‘If the lights are especially bright then we could expect to see impacts from now as birds start to fledge.’’
Birds New Zealand Auckland representative Ian McLean said artificial lighting could be very negative for young seabirds.
‘‘When leaving their nest holes for their first flight they can become easily disorientated by intense sources of artificial light,’’ McLean said.
In exceptional circumstances enormous numbers could be drawn to the lights of boats and structures such as oil platforms and lighthouses, often with fatal consequences, he said.
‘‘Once grounded, they are often unable to become airborne again and frequently succumb to predation, starvation or being run over by vehicles.’’
Fortunately, there were no colonies of petrels or shearwaters directly near the Auckland Harbour Bridge, although grey faced petrels bred on Tiritiri Matangi Island and on the west coast, and Cook’s petrels bred on Little Barrier Island, he said.
Auckland Council community facilities general manager Rod Sheridan said it was found during the resource consent process that there were no adverse effects on bird life except for the Cooks petrel during fledging season. ‘‘They did state in the consent however, that the lights can still be on, it just needs to be dialled back a little.’’