Up-till now, media all over the world had been focusing on the human suffering in Japan and elsewhere, as a result of the devastating tsunami in Japan. Little known that the sea birds in pacific remote islands had also faced the disastrous consequences.last week's tsunami caused by an earthquake off Japan killed at least 1,000 adult and adolescent Laysan albatross, along with thousands of chicks. They perished as waves reaching 5ft-tall rolled over the low-lying Midway islands about four hours after the magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck on Friday.
- Many drowned or were buried under debris, said Barry W. Stieglitz, the project leader for the Hawaiian and Pacific Islands National Wildlife Refuges. About one million of the birds live at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge about 1,300 miles north-west of Honolulu, making it the largest Laysan albatross colony in the world.
The waves hit each of the three islands inside the atoll. Among them, Spit Island, about 15 acres in size, was completely overrun. The tsunami washed over 60 per cent of Eastern Island, an islet of nearly 370 acres.- Waves also covered 20 per cent of Sand Island, the largest of the three at almost 1,200 acres.
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