Summary
The first flight of Snowflake, a black-footed albatross fledgling, marked a milestone in a binational project of the United States and Mexico aimed at keeping the birds safe from the rising sea levels that threaten their survival. After years of planning, dozens of permits from both countries, half a million dollars in funding from several nongovernmental organizations, and extra complications from the COVID-19 pandemic, two teams of scientists from both countries finally chose 21 black-footed albatross eggs from Midway Atoll, in Hawaii, in January and flew them to Guadalupe Island, a reserve off Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula. There, they met their foster parents: experienced Laysan albatross pairs. Eighteen Midway eggs hatched in February. The team repeated the journey across the Pacific in February with 12 1-month-old, fluffy black-footed chicks. Nine reached the island safely. As the rest of Snowflake’s fellows take wing, the team is planning to bring 80 more black-footed albatross eggs to Guadalupe Island in the next few years.
