Azores Campaign Rescues 7,890 Shearwaters, Protecting Portugal’s Marine Future

A record‐setting rescue in the mid-Atlantic has just wrapped up, offering Portugal a timely reminder of how intertwined its biodiversity is from Lisbon to Santa Maria. Nearly 8,000 young cagarros—the emblematic Cory’s shearwaters that nest almost exclusively in the Azores—were scooped up from roadsides and football pitches, patched up when needed and rushed back to the ocean before their first migratory flight.

Quick glance at what happened

• 7,890 birds collected across the 9 islands

• 7,577 juveniles released in good health

• Campaign has grown 23% since 2024

• 31st edition of SOS Cagarro involved hundreds of volunteers, 7 veterinary clinics and every island’s natural-park service

Why mainland residents should care

For anyone on the continent who still thinks seabird conservation is a purely Azorean affair, note that about 75 % of the global population of Cory’s shearwater is born on Portuguese soil—soil that just happens to sit 1,500 km offshore. The species is a barometer of Atlantic marine health; population crashes would ripple through Portugal’s fishing sector, coastal tourism and scientific reputation. Lisbon’s strategy for the ocean economy therefore leans on what happens each October night in places like Pico and São Jorge.

Record-breaking 2025 numbers in context

Conservation officers are calling 2025 “the most efficient season since records began”. After 6,388 rescues in 2024 and a disappointing 3,528 in 2023, the latest count of 7,890 represents both a logistical step-up and a healthier fledgling cohort. Biologists attribute the surge to three factors: better illumination controls, a stronger volunteer turnout and a new GPS-based incident-reporting app that shaved precious minutes off each retrieval.

Night-time choreography: how the operation works

Every autumn the fledglings launch from cliff-top nests, only to be disoriented by artificial light. Street lamps, car headlights and even floodlit five-a-side pitches lure the birds inland, where they crash-land. Between 20:30 and 02:00,brigades equipped with cartons and head-torches sweep known hotspots. Police checkpoints double as drop-off hubs, and by sunrise, park rangers ferry the birds to quiet coves for release. Any animal showing injury is triaged under the regional contract that funds 7 island-based veterinary clinics.

Light pollution: the hidden bill we all pay

Illumination is rising in the archipelago by roughly 3 % a year, mirroring trends in cities such as Porto and Faro. The regional government’s LuMinAves programme has replaced more than 5,000 street bulbs with shielded LEDs since 2021, slashing the number of grounded birds in those test zones by 40 %. Mainland municipalities planning LED retrofits are watching closely; the Azores are effectively a living laboratory for smart lighting regulations that could soon appear in the next national energy-efficiency decree.

Volunteers, scientists and cafés: the alliance that works

What sets SOS Cagarro apart is scale. Over 1,200 residents and tourists signed up this season, ranging from schoolchildren on Terceira to retirees in Faial. Local cafés kept doors open until after midnight to supply free coffee; ferry operators offered cost-price cargo space for bird crates; and environmental NGOs such as SPEA and APPAA provided data loggers to study post-release survival. That civic-science partnership impressed Brussels auditors assessing Portugal’s bid for additional LIFE funding.

From rescue to prevention: next steps for 2026

Officials admit the campaign is still reactive. The goal for 2026 is to pivot toward hazard mapping and early-warning beacons near runways and port facilities. Talks are under way with telecoms operators to piggy-back on 5G masts for automatic light-dimming protocols triggered by seabird radar. Meanwhile, educators are pushing to embed ‘cagarro-night’ field trips in every Azorean school curriculum. If the funding lands, mainland coastal towns could copy the model, protecting migratory gulls and terns that face similar urban traps.

Key insights to take away

Azorean seabird health is Portuguese ocean health.

Smart lighting saves wildlife and energy simultaneously.

Grass-roots volunteering can scale to national-level impact when backed by targeted public funds.

As Portugal charts its maritime future—from offshore wind farms to blue-biotech start-ups—the humble cagarro offers a clear metric: when the birds take off safely, so does the country’s broader environmental credibility.