Over a century ago, toothy monsters drove the birds from the island. Now, the feathered creatures have finally returned.

More than a century ago, invasive rats led to the extinction of an entire species of seabirds on the Pacific island of Kamaka. Now, over 100 years later, scientists have finally documented the return of Polynesian petrels to the island and believe that this event could help the entire local ecosystem thrive, reports IFLScience.

According to researchers, the long-awaited return of the birds is the result of years of efforts by various organizations aimed at restoring and rejuvenating Kamaka's wildlife—a tiny island located in French Polynesia in the southern Pacific Ocean.

A crucial part of the project involved eradicating invasive predators—rats—from the island. The problem was that Polynesian petrels nest on the ground, making their eggs and flightless chicks particularly vulnerable to rodents. Ultimately, this led to the birds' disappearance from the island and a decline in their population in the rest of their habitat. Researchers employed drones and were able to completely eliminate the rodents on the island by 2022.

The next important step was the return of seabirds to the island: scientists used a strategy known as "social attraction," which involved recording the calls of a petrel colony on a neighboring island. The team set up motion-activated cameras and two solar-powered sound systems on the island that played the recorded calls.

It’s worth noting that the sound systems were installed on the island in March 2024, just before the breeding season began. By June, scientists observed several seabirds. According to co-author Thomas Guestemme, he and his colleagues did not expect the successful experiment's results to become evident so quickly.

Researchers point out that the return of the seabirds is a positive sign for the species, which is estimated to have only 250-1000 individuals remaining in the wild. It is anticipated that with a safe nesting site, the population of the species will significantly increase.

This remarkable progress inspires hope for the future, as Polynesian petrels reclaim their island home. It should be noted that seabirds bring essential nutrients from the ocean to the island, which cascade into the surrounding marine environment, benefiting fish and corals. As a result, scientists expect an entire ecosystem to flourish.