Princeville Moʻolelo Series: GPS Tags and Kōlea: What a Study Tells Us About Tracking Hawaiʻi’s Shorebirds by Susan Scott (Kauaʻi)
Tuesday, October 13, 2026, 5:00-6:00pm
Presented by Susan Scott
For years, researchers have used various methods to track kōlea during their nonstop Pacific Ocean flights of roughly 3,000 miles. A persistent question, however, has loomed over this work: Do the tracking devices we attach to the birds harm them? A study recently published in Wader Study by Dr. Oscar Johnson and colleagues, including Hawaiʻi Audubon Society members, offers the most rigorous answer yet for the Pacific golden-plover we call kōlea.
Susan Scott, who worked with Johnson throughout the study, will give a presentation of the work the team did at O‘ahu’s National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl), and the results. Hint: This story has a happy ending.
Speaker
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Susan Scott