Large seagulls once existed in the North Atlantic

US researchers unearthed the first fossil reproduction site of the great albatross in Bermuda. This site contains many of their bones but no one lives there today nor elsewhere in the North Atlantic.

According to Storrs Olson of the National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC, 400,000 years ago, seawater rose to more than 20m above the current level, which pushed large albatrosses out of this area. He said: '' They must still be there if the sea level does not rise. Rising sea levels in the future due to global warming may also have a similar impact on coastal birds and organisms . '

All birds once in Bermuda are large seagulls with short tails (Phoebastria albatrus). This highly endangered bird species still lives on several islands off Japan. Feather collectors made them almost annihilated a century ago. Elsewhere, large albatrosses are threatened by fishing.

Large albatross breed on the islands. People always wonder if there is a territory of this species in the North Atlantic and if so, where it is. They have now found the answer. The Bermuda territory was buried many meters under the sand during a storm, including adults, eggs and young birds. It was submerged during the time when the West Antarctic ice sheet melted, causing sea water to suddenly rise. Rising seawater may have submerged breeding sites on Bermuda as well as many other islands.

About 5 million years ago, a large seagull species also existed in the North Atlantic Ocean. However, according to scientists, the merger of North and South America about 3 million years ago separated the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean. That event may have changed the ocean conditions, making it more difficult for the great Atlantic ocean species to live. Large short-tailed seagulls now live in the North Pacific. Sometimes they fly astray to England from the Southern Hemisphere and it is still unclear why they have never returned to live in the North Atlantic.