Tierra Del Fuego 2002

Each year red knots, Hudsonian godwits and other arctic nesting shorebirds migrate from their Arctic breeding area 10,000 miles to Tierra del Fuego Chile. In 1986 the majority of the red knot population 56,000 used just one bay, Bahia Lomas. But the birds relied on the eggs of horseshoe crabs of Delaware Bay to get back to the Arctic in good condition. Fishers overharvest crabs in the 1990s and the red knot population fell by 75%. Fishers blamed conditions in TDF. Our team of biologists went to study the place and the birds to find out the truth. TDF was not the problem. In 2001 we explored the wintering area, counted birds and assessed the threats.