The Great Auk: An Extinct Species

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Distribution (5) The Great Auk nested in large groups called colonies. The female laid a single pear-shaped creamy white egg on the bare rock of some of the low lying islands that dot the north Atlantic off the coast of Newfoundland, Iceland, Scotland and Greenland. Since it was flightless, the female had to lay its egg near sea level and not on the high rock ledges in the cliffs like many other seabirds. That too made it vulnerable to hunters. The Exploitation Begins (6) Prior to the arrival of the Europeans, the Great Auk and its eggs were used as food by the Beothuks, the now extinct native people of Newfoundland. The Beothuks paddled their ocean going canoes to the Funk Islands just off the northeast coast of Newfoundland where the auk lived in great numbers. They took only the birds they needed, leaving the population healthy. (7) The Europeans discovered the Great Auk in the early 1500s. At first, they used the bird to indicate the position of the Grand Banks, the rich fishing grounds off the east coast of Newfoundland. Later, they used the auk for food. Fishermen and sailors alike discovered that the birds were easy to catch. On trans-Atlantic voyages, their ships would stop at the auk’s © Prepared by Jim Cornish, Gander, Newfoundland, 2003. -2-
nesting islands and sailors would herd hundreds of them along a plank to the ships’ decks. Some of the birds were killed and eaten immediately. Some were killed and preserved in salt to be eaten later. Sometimes the auks were kept alive in the ships’ hulls to serve as fresh meat later in the voyages. The fact they were edible contributed to auk’s extinction too. Controlling The Slaughter (8) Although the Great Auk was hunted relentlessly and in great numbers from the beginning of 16th century, the effects of the slaughter were not noticed until two hundred years later –– and even then no serious efforts were made to protect them from jeopardy. In 1775, the government of Nova Scotia asked Great Britain to ban the killing of auks. This was done. Anyone caught killing auks for feathers or taking their eggs for food was whipped in public. Fishermen, however, were still allowed to use the bird as bait and so the auks’ numbers continued to decline. (9) Other large Great Auk colonies in Iceland were being raided for food, oil and feathers too. The Icelanders harvested the birds in rotation. This means they killed large numbers of birds one year and then left the colony alone the next to enable their numbers to increase. Eventually, though, the hunting pressure became too great and Icelandic populations declined. Only when the birds © Prepared by Jim Cornish, Gander, Newfoundland, 2003. -3
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Page 5 and 6: Visual Literacy: Using a Venn Diagr
Page 7 and 8: Comprehension Questions Directions:
Page 9 and 10: Backbone Puzzle: The Great Auk 1 r

The Great Auk: An Extinct Species

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