MAUNA LOA FOREST RESERVE, Hawai‘i Island — After seven years of searching, the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) has discovered a nesting burrow for the endangered ‘ake‘ake (band-rumped storm-petrel) on state lands.
The nocturnal ‘ake‘ake is a native seabird that inhabits remote areas of the state, with the vast majority believed to breed on Kaua‘i. Though the species is widespread across the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, the Hawaiian population remains critically endangered, with current size estimates at fewer than 250 pairs.
What few birds are left in Hawai‘i have long eluded DOFAW officials — prior to the division’s findings, only four other confirmed sites had been found across the state.
“I’m super excited to finally confirm a burrow, because ‘ake‘ake aren’t the easiest to track,” Wang said. “Investing so much energy, to get proof is a relief. It’s been a long time coming.”
On Hawai‘i Island, ‘ake‘ake nest in high-elevation burrows and crevices on barren lava flows, often in burrow complexes with multiple entrances and exits.
Additionally, the birds leave their burrows before first light, and can spend several days at sea, before returning to nest after dark. And unlike the ‘ua‘u (Hawaiian petrel), ‘ake‘ake don’t leave any guano outside of their own burrows, making the species exceedingly difficult to track down.
That’s not to say that Wang and his team don’t have any tricks up their sleeves to detect them, though. From infrared thermal binoculars and remote acoustic recorders to night vision equipment and motion-activated game cameras, DOFAW has taken a high-tech approach to their search.
However, DOFAW has also made use of an additional tool that can’t be automated — man’s best friend.
“The detection dogs are game changers,” Wang said. “They’ve made the search much more feasible. Each time we take them out, we uncover more potential burrows. It’s a big step.”
DOFAW hired two dogs, Slater and Ikaika, as well as their trainer, biologist Michelle Reynolds, to help sniff out the ‘ake‘ake’s home. Trained similarly to dogs used in law enforcement, ecological detection dogs are taught to recognize an odor, reinforced to associate that odor with a reward, and are then sent out to use their keen sense of smell to locate the scent.
“One of the most fantastic things about dog olfaction is their ability to navigate,” Reynolds said. “It’s not that they can just smell it — they can find it.”
Armed with little more than a sharp nose and an intrinsic drive for a rewarding job, dogs can spend hours tracking down a scent.
While the dogs’ impressive sense of smell proved invaluable to the team, their role in the search wasn’t without concern.
Reynolds worried that Slater and Ikaika could injure their soft paws on the job, as much of the search area consisted of rough and uneven pahoehoe lava. To protect their feet from rocky terrain, Reynolds created special lava booties constructed from motorcycle tire inner tubes that the doggy duo wore on-site.
With shoes on and snouts sniffing, 5-year-old Ikaika successfully tracked down the burrow at Mauna Loa Forest Reserve that had evaded experts for years, a finding that was later confirmed by game camera images.
Although the team completed their yearslong goal of detecting an ‘ake‘ake nesting burrow at Mauna Loa Forest Reserve, Slater and Ikaika likely aren’t out of a job just yet. Wang expressed hope that detection dogs can help him and his team to track down more petrels in the near future — an important task, as the island’s dwindling ‘ake‘ake population may be endemic and soon recognized as a distinct species.
While taxonomists debate how to classify Hawai‘i’s ‘ake‘ake population, Wang’s focus lies solely on defending the birds from predator threats in an attempt to ensure their continued existence.
“We know these seabirds are vulnerable to invasive mammals, especially cats and mongooses,” he said, adding that he and his team hope to add a predator-proof fence to the area to help preserve the population indefinitely.
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Jackson Healy, reporter, can be reached at 808-647-4966 or jhealy@thegardenisland.com.
