I cLaim thaT isLand !
Word got around about the miraculous properties of guano , and suddenly everyone wanted their own bird poop islands ! In 1856 , the USA passed a law called the ‘ Guano Islands Act ’, which meant that any uninhabited and unclaimed island – that was covered in seabird poop – could be claimed for the US . This sparked a worldwide hunt for guano deposits , and nations all over the globe began claiming remote seabird islands . Pacific poop wars erupted over the guano-rich islands off the coast of Peru , where the best guano formed .
PooP saIls The worlD
For nearly 40 years , cargo ships stuffed with Peruvian bird poop sailed from the Pacific around to the Atlantic , delivering the fantastically fishy fertiliser to the US and over the ocean to the UK , Scandinavia , Russia and the European mainland . At least 12 million tons of guano were exported from Peru during those years , that ’ s the equivalent of two Great Pyramids of Khufu ! But natural resources often run out , even towers of poop .
A mOderN guAno taLe
When the bottom dropped out of the poop market , ( I see what you did there , ed ) most farmers stopped thinking about guano and moved on to artificial nitrogen fertilisers . But for the Peruvians , guano fertiliser was part of their traditional farming culture , and a precious national resource . They managed and mined small reserves of guano for local use . However , by this point guano reserves were depleted and bird numbers had dramatically reduced .
WhaT haPpenEd tO thE SeaBirdS�
By the end of the guano boom , around 53 million birds called the guano islands home . So why are there only around four million living there now ?
The human population grew and , due to the exploitation and unregulated harvesting of the guano , demand became higher than supply . Artificial fertilisers were introduced and guanobird protections were removed . The fisheries came in and farmed nearly all the anchovies ( the Peruvian seabirds ’ fave ). Multiple El Niño events warmed the waters , making shoals of fish move deeper , so they were no longer accessible to guano-producing seabirds .
The guano islands were becoming wastelands , and the seabirds became endangered . The guanay cormorant is now on the Red List as Near Threatened , meaning their population is currently small and getting smaller .
GuaNo dEmanD
Today , many modern farmers are moving away from artificial farming methods and back to more natural solutions . Once again , the farmers of the world are looking to the guano birds and their poopy deposits to solve food production problems . This time round , we ’ re relearning something the Incas already knew , that to harvest guano , we must respect and conserve the seabirds who make it , and the environments they rely on .
Guano is now only harvested from the islands on a rotational basis , after the nesting season is over . Anchovy fishing is restricted and monitored . With less human interference , the seabirds of Peru could once again pile their islands high with pyramids of precious poop !
FUN FACT TRUMPET In 1799 , Alexander von Humboldt was the first European to come across a species of penguin living in South America . Penguins are usually cool-continent seabirds , but a local , icy current flowing up from the Antarctic brings in the cool temperatures – and fish – needed for these penguins to survive so near the equator . The penguin and the current are both named
‘ Humboldt ’.
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Words : Annalie Seaman . Illustration : Kaley McKean . Photo : Shutterstock , Bird colony of guanay cormorant in Paracas National Reserve , Jens Otte