Kauai utility will test “fence” of light to protect seabirds

HONOLULU (AP) — The Kauai Island Utility Cooperative is testing a visual “fence” of light to help protect endangered seabirds.

A leading cause of death and injury for the birds is flying into objects, so KIUC is using low-powered lasers to help the creatures avoid power lines and transmission poles, reported the Honolulu Star-Advertiser (https://bit.ly/1JF7C2O ).

The seabirds fly to land at night to return to their burrows and fly back out to sea before dawn. Native species include the endangered Hawaiian petrel and the threatened Newell’s shearwater.

The utilities cooperative worked with the Kauai Endangered Seabird Recovery Project last year to create the fence to help the birds avoid hazards during their dark commutes. They attached 30 lasers to transmission poles in Eleele.

More recently, 30 lasers were installed on poles at coffee fields in Eleele and will be tested through mid-December. The lasers use a narrowly focused beam of green light projected parallel to the ground.

More than 1,000 devices called “firefly” units will also be hung from power lines. The firefly devices use reflectors and glow-in-the-dark features that are visible to birds in low-light conditions.

In a news release, KIUC transmission and distribution manager Carey Koide said the lasers will be programmed to be on during alternating night and biologists will monitor the project.

“After the series of testing is completed, we will evaluate lessons learned to incorporate any improvements,” Koide wrote. “Another series of lasers with additional improvements will be constructed and deployed next season.”