Kauai High Schools to Play Saturday Games to Protect Endangered Birds

by Jeff Fisher
Hawaii High School Football Huddle

For the second year in a row, high school football teams on the island of Kauai will switch from Friday night games to Saturday afternoon contests midway through the season.

It all began last year when the Kauai Interscholastic Federation decided to play daytime games to make sure that the football stadium lights don't have threatened and endangered seabirds known as the Newell's Shearwater.  According to published reports, the young seabirds become confused and distracted by the lights while trying to following their migration instincts to follow the moon and stars while migrating to the ocean between September 15th and December 15th.

Wildlife officials say once the birds become distracted they fly in circles, eventually dropping to the ground where they are attacked by cats or hit by cars.

It is reported that the Newell's Shearwater's numbers have dropped approximately 75-percent from a high of 80,000 in the mid-90s.

Kauai teams must follow the Saturday afternoon schedule starting in mid-September to keep the county in compliance with federal laws protecting the endangered seabirds.