Radiolab - Nigel and the Real Gannet

Starting point is 00:00:01 Wait, you're listening. Okay. All right. Okay. All right. You're listening to Radio Lab. Radio Lab. From W. N. Y.

Starting point is 00:00:13 C. See? Yeah. Hey. This is Radio Lab. I'm Lathif Nassar. And today we have a small story about a small life that touched people all over the world. Okay. One, two, three. And it doesn't end the way you want it to.

Starting point is 00:00:34 Oh, there's a daughter. Get it up. Okay. Comes to us from producer Annie McEwen. Hi, Annie. And it starts with a total loner. Yeah, exactly. I'm okay.

Starting point is 00:00:44 Let's picture you. I imagine that you're tall and you stride around the island in, like, hiking boots? Like, gosh, yes, tall. So tall, I've got quite bad posture and sort of loom around. Oh, so you're hunching around the island. Hunting and stalking, yes. Scowling, but under a sun hat, because the sun's pretty strong in New Zealand. This is Chris Bell, and back about a decade ago, he was the sole inhabitant of an island off the west coast of New Zealand called Manna Island.

Starting point is 00:01:17 Ah, gosh, it's like the perfect size of island. It's not too big and not too small. Nose to tail, it takes about an hour and a half to walk across. Yeah, looking down. Yeah, of course. It's got cliffs, a high, grassy plateau, shrubs and woodland. and Chris lived there in an old farmhouse. Yeah, wood stove and...

Starting point is 00:01:35 Did you make your own food all the time? Well, there's no one else to make it for me, so yeah. Although he did share the house with... Handfuls of geckos. A whole bunch of geckos. As soon as evening came, you would hear them rattling about in the roof space. And sometimes he'd get human visitors, but... Very common to go ten days without seeing or hearing anybody else.

Starting point is 00:01:52 Often he'd be totally alone. Yeah. Okay. And what is... How did he... Why is he spurning civilization? What is he doing there? Well, this island was sort of in a state of recovery.

Starting point is 00:02:06 Gosh, it was farmed for many years. For a hundred plus years, it had been used as farmland. I think it was sheep and cattle. And while in all this time, the wildlife took a big hit. The sheep and the cows ate all the grass and trees. An invasive species arrived, particularly mice. And the mice ate the eggs of the birds and lizards that lived on the island and reduced this ecosystem to basically a wasteland.

Starting point is 00:02:29 But then, in the 1980s, the Department of Conservation of New Zealand stepped in and got rid of all the mice and all the sheep. And once the mice were gone and planting restoration began. They thought, let's use this island as like a safe haven for fragile species who need a bit of like tender loving care and place to sort of find their feet again. So the island was home to things like... McGregor's skink and gold striped gecko and the Cookstreet giant wetter. The wetter? Which is a giant lumbering grasshopper. Oh my God.

Starting point is 00:02:59 There are kiwi birds, little blue penguins called Cororas. So cute. This endangered bird called the Takahey. Which is like a giant blue chicken. I mean, absolutely shouldn't exist and almost didn't. And to protect all this fragility, the Department of Conservation installed a single human inhabitant, a ranger. And for a time, that ranger was Chris. 14th of November 2016, that evening was calm and mild.

Starting point is 00:03:25 His journal from the island is filled with two diving petrol burrows to check. Counting seabirds and... Cutting grass for the better part of the day. Clearing meadows. Checking wax tags, that monitor for invasive rodents. Keeping island pest free and just generally. Clearing weeds, digging culverts, tending the nursery, building and dismantling. Doing what needed doing.

Starting point is 00:03:43 On a fine day, I took a backpack spray up to the Gannet colony. His work took him all over the islands, sometimes as far as one of the more unusual conservation projects. It's a little off the main track. The Gannet colony. Do you know what a Gannet is? A Gannet? A seabird? Yeah, yes, but not just any seabird. Gannis are seabird royalty.

Starting point is 00:04:05 They're snowy white with black wing tips and yellow heads. I mean, they're beautiful flyers. They're a big bird. They're very elegance. They glide along. And when hunting for fish, they tuck their wings in and their neck stretched out, their bill down. They dive like fighter jets.

Starting point is 00:04:19 Into the water in a big splash. I mean, one of the most spectacular sides you can see. And sounds you can hear, like these birds are loud. Oh, it's incredibly noisy. It's... Can you mimic that sound? Absolutely not. Not in a million years.

Starting point is 00:04:34 Please? No. No. I couldn't. Like, no. They sound like this. And on a regular basis, Chris would busy himself with... Weeding the colony.

Starting point is 00:04:46 And scrubbing the Gannets. To remove the lichen blooms that have colonized them. Because they'd get covered in moss. Mm-hmm. You know, it's not such a convincing or a luring feature of a bird if they've got moss growing on their head. Wait, they have moss on their heads? They do, because these gannets are fake.

Starting point is 00:05:04 The gannets are fake? A bunch of concrete gannets. Painted white with yellow heads, black wingtips. Placed around in kind of naturalistic positions. And this sound is a recording, playing over speakers. And why did they make a bunch of fake gannets? Well, the Department of Conservation put them there in the mid-90s, like years and years before Chris shows. up, to try to lure Gannets to the island with the hopes of establishing a new Gannock colony.

Starting point is 00:05:34 Where Gannets can increase their numbers and grow and have another safe haven in a very unpredictable and changing world. The only problem is Gannis prefer to nest where other Gannets are already nesting. So how do you get Gannets to come to a place that has no Gannets? Well, one way is to make some and then you wait. And wait, and wait. in wait, the months, the years ticked by, the fake Gannets would fade, volunteers would repaint them, paint the rocks around them white to look like poop, reposition the speakers, but still... For, I guess, nearly 20 years...

Starting point is 00:06:14 This project was a failure. Totally unsuccessful. No Gannets. No, no. I am. But then, one day, a beautiful, snowy white male Gannet. with golden head and black-tipped wings, flew in, hovered over the decoys,

Starting point is 00:06:38 and he landed, checked the place out. Decided that the colony was a good place. And then he moved in. Oh, oh. This was huge. Absolutely huge, because he's a lot more convincing than the concrete replicas. This bird was momentum.

Starting point is 00:06:54 This is the pioneer. It's the Johnny Appleseed of Gannets. Exactly. He was now going to be the lure for other Gannets to come. And he was giving. in the name, Nigel. Nigel no mates.

Starting point is 00:07:09 Oh. Because soon it became apparent that this bird... Oh, gosh. Was maybe a little different. I mean, it somehow... It seemed as though Nigel was taking a shine to one particular decoy. Was she in any way different than the others? Was she, like, was there something about her that was...

Starting point is 00:07:31 No. No, not to me. Not to me. Yeah. No. Huh. She was one of the sitting, Gannets, wings tucked by her sides, head raised, painted eyes gazing out over the ocean. I'm just wondering why he chose her. My gosh. Yeah, that's a mystery for the ages.

Starting point is 00:07:55 Gannets are sort of famous for their bonding rituals. Courtship is really important. They'll do these almost dances. Calling to one another, stretching their necks out high, opening their wings. Raising their beaks up slowly. towards the sky before quickly clacking them together. All part of just reaffirming the bond and being a partnership. And Nigel began to do a sort of one-sided version of this with the decoy.

Starting point is 00:08:21 He would do the whole big display thing of putting up his wings. Gently resting his head on top of her head. And doing a nice big call. He even built her a nest. Just a low platform of sticks and muds and tufts of grass. And when he wasn't at sea, that's where he would be. by her side because the thing is

Starting point is 00:08:41 Gannets are socially monogamous and often mate for life. Oh. As time passed Lonely Gannett finds love with concrete statues. The local paper in Wellington

Starting point is 00:08:55 you're around stories from time to time on him. He's a lovely bird but he's a bit confused. More and more people began to hear about Nigel and his choice of mate and... It touched some sort of nerve with people. He's really,

Starting point is 00:09:08 This idea of a lonely bird. He's obviously quite desperate. Finding a mate who doesn't really exist. Tempting to impress what he appears to believe is a real female bird. And the sort of the sadness and the tragic comedy of that situation. And Nigel had been living there alone for almost a year. 18th of August 2016. The morning was grey, drastically, without a breath of wind.

Starting point is 00:09:29 By the time that Chris showed up, Nigel was in his usual spot. To find that he shared the island with this strange neighbor. Sort of tempted to spin a tale of seeing him as competition and just dividing the island between us. And, you know, this island's only big enough for one misanthropic, loner, Nigel. You stick to your side of the island and I'll have mine. It's funny because, like, I'm trying hard not to anthropomorphize him, but if I just indulge for a second and imagine from Nigel's perspective watching this bizarre, like, tall man slouching around the island, it's just alone. and he's like, I'm so worried about that Chris guy.

Starting point is 00:10:08 He just seems so lonely. He doesn't seem to miss human company. Yeah, yeah, exactly. That's right. But what Chris was really thinking about when it came to Nigel was, what can I do? As wonderful as it is to have one ganad. You don't want just one ganad. You want a bunch.

Starting point is 00:10:27 And one bird, no matter how hard it tries, cannot make more birds with a statue. So, yeah, that is the difficulty. And so he would occasionally head over to the colony, clean the decoys, make sure the speakers were working, watch Nigel, watch the empty skies above him. And that's how things were. Until... 25th of December. A Christmas miracle. Just before Christmas.

Starting point is 00:10:55 It would just be before Christmas. Tell me. Oh, it was absolutely amazing. Okay, I'm going to imagine you're walking, you're doing your daily walk, you walk towards the Gannock colony, and you hear sounds. Is this any... You have no idea. You don't remember. I remember.

Starting point is 00:11:12 I remember being greatly elated. The great surprise came yesterday on my visit to the Gannet Colony when I saw no less than four actual Gannets in place. Oh my God. Three more real-life Gannets had finally come. On Christmas? Yes. This is unprecedented and coming only 10 days

Starting point is 00:11:31 after our repositioning the speaker system. It fills me with pride. This group were just doing exactly what Nigel had done several years before. They'd been lured in, they'd landed, they were interested displaying to each other. They were checking out the replicas. And... This of January 2018. Again, I saw four Gannets at the colony.

Starting point is 00:11:50 They seemed to sort of settle in. Gosh. Finally, Nigel, the live bird, was a powerful enough lure to bring in these other live birds, like he did his job. Yeah. Yeah. At least that's how everyone thought this was going to go. What actually happened? After the break.

Starting point is 00:12:13 After the break, you mother flippers. I can say that. Oh, I love that. What actually happened after the break, you mother flippers? That's good. That's really good. I like it. Lutif, Radio Lab, back from break with Annie and Chris and Nigel.

Starting point is 00:12:35 Yeah, so Nigel, the Gannett lived alone with his concrete decoy lover for a couple years. And then finally, three more love. live gannets come, and now Nigel can be with his own kind. Now he can have real friends. Now you can have real friends. Maybe a real mate. Yeah. Except... No. No.

Starting point is 00:12:59 Love concrete's all, one love bird's tail. The local paper published a picture of the colony at this time. And you can see in the foreground there are the three new live gannets, mingling among the decoys. And in the background, way, way on the other side. of the colony. There's Nigel. And this was apparently the common arrangement,

Starting point is 00:13:22 because these new Gannets... They really, really didn't go anywhere in Nigel. And he had no interest whatsoever in them. This group of Gannets and Nigel completely ignored one another. Huh. Now the newspaper's headline read... Gannet with a heart of stone. He's got live company, but he prefers a concrete decoy.

Starting point is 00:13:44 People were sort of amused, a little disappointed maybe, but... You know, bird courtship is intricate. Chris knew that these were early days. Just because, you know, these other birds turned up, it's not going to be immediate chemistry. You know, to find a lifelong mate, it's a deliberate strategy to be cautious and to make sure it's the right one. These things take time. Yeah. There's always hope.

Starting point is 00:14:14 But now... This just feels like the wrong ending to the story. Because those birds... Unfortunately, yeah, they didn't stay. Ultimately flew away and didn't come back. No. And during Chris's tenure on the island, no other gannets would come.

Starting point is 00:14:30 It could just be where we as humans have chosen to put this potential gannock colony doesn't suit gannets. Maybe the fishing grounds are too far, maybe the aspect is wrong. Could just be a bunch of things. The idea of decoy, like these decoy colonies, is this a thing that they do with other birds

Starting point is 00:14:48 and it's successful in other parts of the world? It's a tried and tested means, and it's led to some amazing, amazing conservation successes, bringing birds back to places they should be. And each of those projects that has succeeded has had a lonely first bird, has had an agile, and they've made that leap. But in this case, actually...

Starting point is 00:15:13 31st of January, 2018. Only a few weeks after those new gannets arrived. Bright, sunny, hot day. This is reputed to be the hottest tomorrow. in New Zealand's history. It was a scorcher. The days were baking. And I can't remember the reason I went up to the colony,

Starting point is 00:15:28 probably just to do some work on the sound speakers. So there's a slight crest of a hill before you look then down on the sweep of the small promontory where the Gannock colony is. And I could see right away something wasn't right. Nigel was there in his nest. There, but his position wasn't right. and I walked down and Nigel was just prone with his wings spread out and his head to one side up in the Gannock colony I found Nigel dead on his nest

Starting point is 00:16:00 he had no visible injury Nigel the lonely Gannett found dead beside his concrete love 3rd of February 2018 Nigel's death was published in the Dominion post The world's lonely as seabird For several days the phone has not stopped for interviews The futility of his life and bleak melancholy of his end have attracted worldwide attention. 6th of February 2018. Nigel spent his whole life loving, never getting anything in return.

Starting point is 00:16:32 The world's media seemed to like the story of a lovesick bird dying of heartbreak at the Stonian difference of his concrete mate. Oh man, this story is such a bummer. Yeah, I mean, I think that's one way to look at it. Nigel, the lonely Gannet, may never have found real love. And that's the way that most people looked at it. Are we not all Nigel? A lot of people saw themselves in Nigel. Nigel stands for all of us who are incapable of facing reality.

Starting point is 00:16:58 Their own heartbreak, their own isolation. He died as he lived, confused and alone. But of course, that's us pacing ourselves onto Nigel's story, which if you're a conservationist like Chris, it's not really something you do. But on the other hand... I definitely felt a kinship been the way of that I think when you work with wild animals, you realize that they are as individual as we are. They all have individual characteristics and personalities. No two are the same and we're no different. Did you ever, did you ever think,

Starting point is 00:17:37 is there something wrong with Nigel? Well, he, I think he must have been an unusual bird in a way in that he was one of those, I imagine, he would have been one of those birds who had some, some more of the instinct to go and try something new, to find a new home. Yeah, yeah, just like in human populations, most of us, you know, what stay close to home. I think he was part of that, that group with a bit more wanderlust. Gannett populations rely on birds like Nigel, birds that are a little bit different, birds that are willing to try something new. Otherwise, there never would be any new colonies.

Starting point is 00:18:20 species would be stuck on those same overcrowded cliffs forever. And we can't know. Of course we can't know. We'll never know. But maybe a bird who's not afraid to leave his community to strike out on his own. Maybe that kind of bird is not going to want the thing that we think it should want. Yeah. Like we clearly know what Chris was thinking and wanted to happen here.

Starting point is 00:18:48 But like we really don't know what Nigel wanted. been making plans for Nigel and by they I mean the ornithologists live in houses made of bricks and glass Nigel lives alone at the edge of a cliff the bird banners fill binders and books with his biography they notice habits and record his squawks on tibus on Did you ever feel lonely? Oh really? I don't really feel... I don't... that's not something I feel too much. Alone on man I sank into a malaise, brought on perhaps by days of grim grey rain, winter darkness barely cheered by the struggling fire kindled from damp wood.

Starting point is 00:20:21 I mean, I do occasionally, maybe a little bit. Is there called to the concrete colony by a cassette? Nigel noticed the other birds. Didn't fly or flap around. God had told him, hell is other birds. Thought well, this is just that I'd like to say. Is there still sounds being broadcast out? Yes, yes.

Starting point is 00:21:14 And is his mate the one that he chose still there? Yes. Yes. Definitely. Really? For sure. I don't know. For me, I just can't stop thinking about that decoy bird, Nigel's partner.

Starting point is 00:21:30 Her faded eyes. Right this moment, staring out to see. Himself, he was no bird brain, and his heart was huge. So he chose a concrete mate. And he built her. a nest, you figured it was what they wanted him to do. Nigel did most of the talking, but he was used to that. Usually they just sat there and stared out to see.

Starting point is 00:22:12 When he died, cock, cough, hot Nigel's tiny tombstones at the top. Here lies, Nigel, they get it alone, but never lonely. Thank you, Annie, and thank you as well to The Burning Hell, the band that let us play their song about Nigel. Nigel the Gannett is the name of the song. Check them out. You can find more about them and even how you can see them live at theburninghell.com. This episode was reported and produced by Annie McEwen, edited by Alex Neeson. Facts checked by Diane Kelly with voice acting by Maya Appleby Melamette and David Gable.

Starting point is 00:22:52 Special thanks to Melody Thomas and Kirsten Johnstone from the New Zealand Narrative Podcast Company popsock media. Thanks also to Matthias Korn and Ariel Sharatt from the Burning Hell and Stephen Lamke at You've Changed Records. For updates on the epic conservation project that is Manna Island, visit friends of Manna Island at manna island.org.n.z. I especially recommend that if you are a Gannett real estate agent. There's really a lot of vacancy there. Primo properties that are just waiting to be gannotized. It's funny, you just heard a song, but actually

Starting point is 00:23:31 many, many people wrote songs and poems about Nigel, including one piece of music that debuted at the Sydney Opera House. No kidding. Find a link to this, as well as to some other works of art inspired by Nigel on our website, radialab.org. And just before we go, if you haven't gotten

Starting point is 00:23:50 enough animal stories for today, I want to let you know that the Terrestrials team, just dropped a scrappy little episode about the scrappy little raccoon, Jimothy, who if you don't already know from your social media feed, is the Seattle raccoon that has been going viral this summer. The episode includes an ecologist who has closely studied Jimothy, a disability advocate who tries to make sense of our love for Jimothy. And if that's not enough, the episode is also infused with lots of 90s Seattle grunge nostalgia,

Starting point is 00:24:21 because of course it is, given the terrestrial. Soundscape. Yeah, anyway, just check it out. You might get a kick out of it. Search for the Jimothy over on the Terrestrials podcast. Yeah, that's it for us. Thank you, thank you,

Starting point is 00:24:36 and catch you right back here next week. Hi, I'm Johnquil, and I'm from Brooklyn. And here are the staff credits. Radio Lab is hosted by Lulu Miller and Latif Nasa. Soren Wheeler is our executive editor. Sarah Sandbach is our executive director. Our managing editor is Pat Walters. Dylan Keefe is our director of sound design.

Starting point is 00:24:58 Our staff includes Jeremy Bloom, W. Harry Fortuna, David Gable, Maria Paz Gutierrez, Sindu Nianem San Bandan, Matt Kielty, Mona Mad Gauka, Annie McEwan, Alex Neeson, Sarakari,

Starting point is 00:25:13 Natalia Ramirez, Joanna Strogatz, Anisa Vizza, Ariant Wack, Molly Webster, and Jessica Young, with help from Gabi Santos and Maya Appleby Malamid. Our fact checkers are

Starting point is 00:25:25 Nora Belblydia, Hillary Elkins, Rachel Gross, Diane Kelly, Emily Krieger, Natalie Middleton, and Sophie Samay. I'm Aubrey, calling from Salt Lake City, Utah. Leadership support for Radio Lab's science programming is provided by the Simon Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radio Lab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Radiolab - Nigel and the Real Gannet

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