April Program Night
Magnificent Mōlī: Laysan Albatross of Kauaʻi
Join us on April 23rd for our April Program Night with Hob Osterlund, who will be speaking on the Laysan albatross (mōlī). This program night will be virtual on Zoom.
Laysan albatross (mōlī) likely nested in the Hawaiian archipelago for millions of years. After humans arrived, however, predation forced the big birds to disappear from the “mainʻ islands. They lived on in Hawaiian culture and mythology, however, and they continued to raise their young in the northwestern Hawaiian islands, including their mother ship Kuaihelani (Midway Atoll.) Sometime about fifty years ago, a few of them started prospecting for nest sites on Kauaʻi. The first mōlī chick fledged from there in 1979, and the population has continued to gradually grow ever since. Join us for a lively discussion on why Kauaʻi is a Noahʻs Ark for the mōlī and whatʻs being done to keep them protected against a host of challenges.
About the Speaker
Hob Osterlund is the Founder of Kauaʻi Albatross Network, author of Holy Mōl: Albatross and Other Ancestors (Oregon State University Press, multiple printings), and award-winning writer, producer and photographer. She retired from leadership as a Nurse Practitioner at The Queenʻs Medical Center in Honolulu and since then has devoted her attention to native birds of Hawaiʻi–especially the magnificent mōlī—by colony monitoring, bird guiding and community outreach.
Photo: Kat Paleckova/Audubon Photography Awards