Oeno should be named Oh-no-oh. Our visit today was to the uninhabited island of Oeno, 80 miles from the famous Pitcairn Island and its capital Adamstown.
The plan was to get up early to see the masses of sea birds and then get onto the island to see what it had in store. The Expedition Team set off in the Zodiacs to test the waters.
The small island is just 0.5 km squared and is encircled by a coral reef which causes big waves to be thrown up all around. There are just two breaks in the reef. One takes water into the shore, and the only way for that water to be expelled is through the other gap in the reef. This results in great rushes of seawater into and out from the shore line which, if not timed well, can be treacherous, lifting the small Zodiacs high above the water surface.
The island is named after the whaling ship Oeno, whose captain George Worth discovered it in 1824. It is the most western of the Pitcairn Islands group. The excitement to visit is two-fold.
Firstly, this low-lying island is rarely visited, certainly by other nations apart from the Pitcairn people who sometimes take a break on this remote land. Buildings do not exist. From the ship we can see that Oeno is surrounded by white sandy beaches, but this beauty disguises the fact that there has been at least four shipwrecks, including the Wild Wave in 1858; the Liverpool ship Khandeish heading home from San Francisco in 1875; and the Oregon in 1883. As I sit watching how difficult the Expedition Team is finding the landing, I am hoping we will not be the fifth wreck!
Secondly, Oeno has been designated as an Important Bird Area by Birdlife International due to its colonies of Murphy’s Petrels (one of the largest areas for them in the world), Sooty Terns, Red Tailed Tropic Birds, Herald and Kermadec Petrels, Christmas Shearwaters, Bristled Thighed Curlews, Great Frigates, Spotless Crakes and Brown Noddies. This visit will be ecstasy for the birders on board, and the chance of getting up close and personal will be a thrill for others.
Due to the importance of this breeding ground anything that may prevent the birds from successfully producing offspring has to be taken seriously. One of the major issues, on this and many of the islands, is rat and mice infestation. Rats will have come from passing ships over the centuries. Some may think this should not be a problem on a desert island… but what do the little critters eat? The answer is bird eggs. On many of the islands that have thousands of nesting birds, the entire eggs may, or usually will be, destroyed by hungry rats and mice.
Oeno is one of the lucky islands. In 1997 on Oeno and Ducie (both part of the Pitcairn Islands group) eradication efforts were carried out using ground-based baiting, ie the hand scattering of pellets. This proved successful and birds, which continue to return to these natural breeding grounds despite their previous egg destruction, have increased vastly in numbers. Our bird expert Peter Harrison tells us that there are estimated to be three million birds on the islands of Oeno and Ducie.
Other islands have not been so successful. On Pitcairn and Henderson eradication attempts have been made but without success. Aerial drops are difficult on islands with trees as by the time the bait has dropped it may be wet and ineffective. There could be crabs which may eat the bait, and on Henderson in 2011 an unusual rise in fruit growth due to a drought the previous year, led to the rats preferring to eat the fruit rather than the bait. There need be only two rats left for the population to increase again quickly. These efforts do not come cheaply. Fundraising amounts to millions of pounds each time baiting takes place.
But back to the Zodiac transportation. The passengers were looking on from afar and were waiting excitedly to hear if they would be able to make the landing. We waited and waited. There was no joy. Then, having had breakfast at 8am, it was suggested we had lunch at 11.30am. The morning trip had been cancelled. We turned back from the decks like sad schoolchildren dragging our feet as we headed to the restaurant to top up our stomachs barely empty from breakfast.
Then we were in luck. The Expedition Team, with the waves settling a little, had made it to the shore. Excitedly, we donned our multitude of clothing, wet weather gear and lifejackets and made our way to the Zodiacs.
Our time had come and our Zodiac driver advised us he was highly experienced at handling these small crafts. Hmmm, we had not had that sort of discussion previously. Why now? I was reassured (a bit), but somehow wondering what was in store. The sea looked fairly calm, but why was I now feeling uneasy? I gripped on tight to the rope that attaches to the side of the rubber Zodiac. As we reached the coral surrounding the island we were told that we were to await a wave to take us in through the gap to the shore. All of a sudden we were quite literally riding on the crest of a wave. Woosh. Before we knew it we were whisked by it to the shore. Phew, we had landed on this rarely trodden island.
And weren’t we in for a treat. As soon as we were on the soft golden sand the birds were flocking above our heads with their large wingspans. The birders were ecstatic.
We headed along the shore. It was just like one might expect a desert island to be, but we didn’t have our eight records and a gramophone with us. (For those not familiar with this it relates to the BBC’s Desert Island Discs radio programme running in the UK since 1942).
In the distance was our bird man Peter Harrison who started showing us how to correctly handle birdlife if it was ever necessary. While many may not choose to do so, there may be times when a bird is injured, or in distress. Peter had told us how rather too often a bird, with its plumage wet through by rain, might take time to recover on the deck of a passing ship. He has experienced this often and has taken the bird to dry out in his cabin’s shower room, which could be rather a shock for the cabin crew. Once dried, the birds were set to fly off, which would have been a welcomed rescue as many of these seabirds live their lives constantly in flight apart from when breeding. If their plumage is wet they just can’t fly on.
Peter then got us creeping about in the undergrowth. And it was worth it. There were Petrels nesting on the floor, or their fluffy young were waiting for their next meal. There was such an abundance of birds on the floor that visitors had to be very careful where they stepped.
Beautiful white terns with their clearly-defined dark black eyes and small, sharp, beaks were high in the trees. Oh gosh, I think this birding activity is rubbing off on me. “Look for the bird’s unique characteristics,” I have heard many times recently! The white tern was once known as the fairy tern.
The juvenile Red-tailed Tropicbird, with its white and black plumage, and nestled amongst the undergrowth, is adorable. Interestingly (well I found it so) their feet and beak grow rapidly and outpace the rest of their bodies. The chicks are born blind and until they are a week old their parents will stroke the bill encouraging the chick to feed. An adult’s wingspan can reach up to 47 inches wide and they can dive more than 160 feet to catch fish.
Up, nesting in the tree were Red-footed Boobies with their beautiful long blue beaks. Red-footed Boobies can travel up to 93 miles searching for food and can live for more than 20 years. They are adept at diving – their aerodynamic bodies and the ability to close their nostrils enable them to plunge-dive into the water for fish. Their red webbed feet then help them swim. This species has been known to dive up to 98 feet for a catch.
In masses were the Sooty Terns. These are black with bright white chests. They have a 37 inch wingspan, and inch long pointed black beaks which could give a peck or two. They can stay at sea for 3-10 years, only coming back to breed. Perhaps that is just as well as they are also known as the Wideawake Tern which refers to their loud piecing calls, sometimes referred to as a cacophony. Perhaps not the most considerate neighbours.
Amongst our other sitings were the adult and juvenile Masked Booby; Great Frigate Bird; the Brown Noddy and its eggs; and not to be missed on the shore were the Red Hermit Crabs which inhabit empty shells.
Today really was a birder’s paradise, and apologies for all those species I may have missed out, or didn’t include their photos… better luck next time.
Then it was time to return to the ship, but not before our Zodiac had to battle its way back through the gap in the coral reef. This time the waves were even more forceful. Hanging on tightly with eyes closed (mine and not the driver’s hopefully) we were on the crest of a wave again. The cries from the passengers swiftly changed to sighs of relief. But the chance to see the bird colony even if not a birder, and the opportunity to walk where few had been before, left one speechless.
Copyright: Words Sue Barnard 2023; Photos Sue Barnard and John Cruse 2022