#Lehua Island

New virtual field trips are being offered this year to remote seabird sanctuaries: Lehua Island, 19 miles west of Kauaʻi, and Hōlanikū (also known as Kure Atoll), 1,400 miles away at the furthest reaches of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands. The virtual excursions use 360˚ photos and videos, as well as interviews with field biologists and cultural practitioners, to provide educational exploration of otherwise inaccessible locations.

After being declared rat-free in 2021, restoration and monitoring efforts continue on Lehua Islet, a small, uninhabited island off the west coast of Kauaʻi.

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources is partnering with Island Conservation to host an art show focused on the natural beauty, native species, and powerful mana of Lehua Island.

Seabirds nesting on the three-acre Moku‘ae‘ae Island, off of Kauaʻi’s Kīlauea Point are getting some much needed help. Crews hope to increase breeding success for the endangered Band-dumped Storm Petrels, and Bulwer’s Petrels already breeding on the island.

A revered kumu, educator, and much sought-after conservationist, Sabra Kauka, was named DLNR & YOU Citizen Conservationist.

Multiple agencies joined forces in 2017 to implement a rat eradication operation on Lehua, using lessons learned from a failed attempt in 2009.

The population of Pacific Rats on tiny Lehua Island, off Kaua‘i’s west coast remains extremely low, two years after three applications of a rodenticide to clear them out of the State Seabird Sanctuary.

Two border terriers, Henry and Reese, are being deployed to Lehua Island off the coast of Kaua‘i to further eradicate invasive Pacific rats, which eat the chicks of nesting seabirds and devour the native plants that help support a large variety of bird life.

The rat observations at Lehua Island come after a trio of aerial rodenticide applications late last year that were aimed at protecting native seabirds.

Monitoring efforts of the ecosystem recovery on Lehua Island find no signs of invasive Pacific Rats in the four months following a rat eradication effort.

Results are inconclusive from an examination of dead fish that were found in tide pools following the aerial application of rodenticide on Lehua Island.

A project aimed at eradicating the invasive rats from the island will be the subject of a 30-minute TV documentary showcasing the operation from beginning to end.

The third application comes today, amid an investigation launched last week claiming a connection between the rat eradication effort and bird and fish deaths.

The deployed crew says mortalities of fish and seabirds occur regularly, and there are many other plausible causes for the deaths.

A second aerial application of rodenticide was conducted at Lehua Island today. The bait drops are being conducted in an effort to eradicate invasive rats.

The state began aerial application of rodenticide today in an attempt to control the rat population at Lehua Island, an area managed as a Seabird Sanctuary

State and partner agencies are attempting to determine what actions, if any, might be needed to protect the island’s native plants and animals.

Maui’s Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge is getting $7.3 million in stimulus funds through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  The funds will be used for the design and construction of an energy efficient administrative and visitors building that replaces a structure that was previously destroyed by fire. The funds are part of a larger […]