Hawadax Island ( ale, Hawadax; russian: Крысий) is an island in the

Rat Islands The Rat Islands ( ale, Qax̂um tanangis, russian: Крысьи острова) are a group of American volcanic islands in the Aleutian Islands in southwestern Alaska, between Buldir Island and the Near Islands group to its west, and Amchitka ...

archipelago of the western

Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands (; ; ale, Unangam Tanangin,”Land of the Aleuts", possibly from Chukchi ''aliat'', "island"), also called the Aleut Islands or Aleutic Islands and known before 1867 as the Catherine Archipelago, are a chain of 14 large v ...

in the U.S. state of

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

. The island was formerly known as Rat Island until May 2012 when it was renamed Hawadax Island, which is an Aleut name meaning "entry" and "welcome". The island has a land area of 10.3126 sq mi (26.7095 km²) and no permanent population. It is within the

Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge The Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge (often shortened to Alaska Maritime or AMNWR) is a United States National Wildlife Refuge comprising 2,400 islands, headlands, rocks, islets, spires and reefs in Alaska, with a total area of , of whi ...

. It is in length and in width. The former name is the English translation of the name given to the islands by Captain

Fyodor Petrovich Litke Fyodor, Fedor (russian: Фёдор) or Feodor is the Russian form of the name " Theodore" meaning “God’s Gift”. Fedora () is the feminine form. Fyodor and Fedor are two English transliterations of the same Russian name. It may refer to: Gi ...

in 1827 when he visited the Aleutian Islands on a voyage around the world. The Rat Islands are very earthquake-prone as they are on the boundary of the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

and

North American North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Ca ...

tectonic plates Plate tectonics (from the la, label=Late Latin, tectonicus, from the grc, τεκτονικός, lit=pertaining to building) is the generally accepted scientific theory that considers the Earth's lithosphere to comprise a number of large ...

. In 1965, there was a major earthquake with the magnitude 8.7 in the Rat Islands.

Conservation and restoration

The island was heavily infested with

brown rat The brown rat (''Rattus norvegicus''), also known as the common rat, street rat, sewer rat, wharf rat, Hanover rat, Norway rat, Norwegian rat and Parisian rat, is a widespread species of common rat. One of the largest muroids, it is a brown o ...

s (''Rattus norvegicus''), which are considered a nuisance invasive species due to their negative impact on the population of ground-nesting wild birds. The rats arrived on the island before 1780 due to a Japanese shipwreck. Since then, the rats had a devastating effect on local seabirds that have no natural defenses against the rats. Invasive rats are also present on 16 other islands in the Aleutian chain. In 2007, the U.S.

Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with othe ...

(FWS), which manages the refuge, was formulating plans to eradicate the rats. The eradication plan is modelled on a successful one to eliminate the

Arctic fox The Arctic fox (''Vulpes lagopus''), also known as the white fox, polar fox, or snow fox, is a small fox native to the Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and common throughout the Arctic tundra biome. It is well adapted to living in ...

from various Aleutian islands, where they were deliberately introduced for breeding. In September 2008, the U.S.

(FWS), in partnership with

Island Conservation Island Conservation is a non-profit organization with the mission to prevent extinctions by removing invasive species from islands. Island Conservation has therefore focused its efforts on islands with species categorized as Critically Endangere ...

and

The Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in 1951, The Nat ...

eradicated Norway rats with the first aerial application of bait in the State of Alaska. Some nontarget mortality was expected, but the actual quantity exceeded what was predicted. Th
Ornithological Council
reported that more than 420 birds were killed as a result of the rat eradication program. Forty-six bald eagles died (exceeding the known population of 22 bald eagles on the island); toxicological analysis revealed lethal levels of

brodifacoum Brodifacoum is a highly lethal 4-hydroxycoumarin vitamin K antagonist anticoagulant poison. In recent years, it has become one of the world's most widely used pesticides. It is typically used as a rodenticide, but is also used to control larger ...

in 12 of the 16 carcasses tested. Of the 320

glaucous-winged gull The glaucous-winged gull (''Larus glaucescens'') is a large, white-headed gull. The genus name is from Latin ''Larus'' which appears to have referred to a gull or other large seabird. The specific ''glaucescens'' is New Latin for "glaucous" from ...

carcasses collected, toxicology tests implicated brodifacoum in 24 of the 34 tested. Fifty-four carcasses of another 25 bird species were found. With the exception of bald eagles, most bird populations surveyed increased in abundance so the impacts on non-target species are likely to be temporary. In June 2009, the island was declared rat-free for the first time in 229 years, although the site was continually monitored for another two years for confirmation. The report found that the lead contractor which the FWS used,

, had dropped more poisonous bait than they had proposed, including bait which was intended to be saved as a backup. The FWS asked the Ornithological Council to determine if Island Conservation had exceeded the limit of their poison quantities, but the council decided not to resolve any "legal questions". , the State of Alaska issued a Notice of Violation an
FWS law enforcement
is still investigating. Steve Delehanty, the manager of the

(which includes the island) said that, "It was a learning experience, and we made mistakes together." However, he also stated, "...if you do the math this was a rip-roaring conservation success." Post eradication monitoring results have shown a strong positive response in terms of bird populations and the intertidal zone.

References

External links

Island Conservation
https://web.archive.org/web/20081028235354/http://alaska.fws.gov/nwr/akmar/pdf/rat_assessment_508.pdf Rat Island Invasive Rat Eradication Project Environmental Assessment]
Rat Island: Block 1140, Census Tract 1, Aleutians West Census Area, Alaska
United States Census Bureau
The Rat Island Rat Eradication Project: A Critical Evaluation of Nontarget Mortality. Prepared for Island Conservation, the Nature Conservancy and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. Prepared by the Ornithological Council. Final report issued December 2010.
US Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Law Enforcement, Report of Investigation #2009703127R001
{{authority control Rat Islands
Island restoration Uninhabited islands of Alaska Islands of Alaska Islands of Unorganized Borough, Alaska

Conservation and restoration

See also

References

External links