Friday, 22 June 2018

A Long Way Back for the Big Island

The massive lava flows from Kilauea on Hawaii's Big Island have apparently destroyed a unique area of rainforest and many marine pools with impressive reef life (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jun/20/hawaii-volcano-eruption-kilauea-natural-wonders-destroyed-kapoho-bay). It is estimated that it will take at least 100 years for the new lava flows to mature into anything like the destroyed habitats. This is, of course, a completely natural destructive event but it does, perhaps, suggest that such locations need an increased range of protected areas (putting all your 'eggs in one basket' near an active volcano is not an optimal strategy).

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Birder's Bonus 241

Noted a Curlew ( Numenius arquata ) on the Loughor estuary at Bynea.