The Great Auk was a majestic, flightless seabird that once populated the North Atlantic. Standing about 75 centimeters tall, this bird was an excellent swimmer, using its small, paddle-like wings to “fly” underwater in pursuit of fish. On land, however, the auk was slow and defenseless, a characteristic that made it vulnerable to human exploitation. The tragic, final chapter of the Great Auk’s history culminated in a single day, providing a definitive answer to who killed the last pair.
The Causes of Near Extinction
The Great Auk’s biological characteristics made it uniquely vulnerable to human pressure. It was flightless and defenseless on land, relying only on a cumbersome waddle, meaning it could not escape predators while nesting. Furthermore, the birds nested in dense, social colonies on easily accessible coastal islands, a behavior that allowed hunters to slaughter thousands at once.
The species had a very low reproductive rate, laying only a single egg on bare rock each year, which intensified the damage from egg collection. For centuries, coastal peoples and early European explorers opportunistically hunted the birds for meat and used them as fishing bait. By the 16th century, however, a massive commercial demand for the bird’s down—used to stuff pillows and bedding—drove the exploitation to catastrophic levels. This centuries-long commercial slaughter decimated the population, forcing the survivors into increasingly remote strongholds.
The Final Refuge on Eldey Island
By the early 19th century, the Great Auk’s remaining numbers were concentrated in a few precarious locations off the coast of Iceland. The last major breeding colony was located on the island of Geirfuglasker, a remote volcanic skerry protected by sheer, unscalable cliffs. This isolation provided a temporary sanctuary, but its geological stability was short-lived.
In 1830, a volcanic eruption caused Geirfuglasker to sink beneath the waves, forcing the surviving auks to relocate to Eldey Island. Eldey, a towering, steep-sided basalt column, offered only one relatively accessible landing spot. This single, treacherous path up the cliff face was difficult for humans but not impossible, turning the last sanctuary into a trap.
The Hunters and the Final Act
The final hunt was not driven by the historic commercial demand for oil or feathers, but by the rapidly increasing value of the bird as a scientific and museum specimen. As the Great Auk became rarer, its skins and eggs became highly sought-after by wealthy European collectors and naturalists. This demand created a speculative market for the final surviving specimens.
The expedition that ended the species was commissioned by Carl Siemsen, a merchant and collector based in Reykjavík, who was eager to secure skins for museums and private buyers. He hired a small boat and three experienced local hunters: Jón Brandsson, Sigurður Ísleifsson, and Ketill Ketilsson. On June 3, 1844, the three men successfully scaled the notoriously difficult cliffs of Eldey Island, finding only two Great Auks among the thousands of other seabirds.
The hunters moved quickly to capture the final breeding pair, which had no natural fear of humans and could not fly to escape. Jón Brandsson and Sigurður Ísleifsson cornered the two birds and strangled them. According to later testimony, the third man, Ketill Ketilsson, found the single, speckled egg the pair had been incubating and crushed it under his boot. This marked the definitive, last confirmed killing of the species in its breeding colony.
Confirmation of Species Loss
The two adult specimens were preserved and subsequently sold, their skins eventually making their way into museum collections, where they remain today. Despite the finality of the June 1844 event, the scientific community took time to recognize that the species was truly gone.
The recognition of the Great Auk’s extinction was gradual, solidified by years of unsuccessful subsequent searches across the North Atlantic breeding grounds. While a few unconfirmed sightings were reported in the following years, none could be substantiated. The killing of the breeding pair on Eldey, and the destruction of the last known egg, was ultimately accepted as the moment the species was biologically erased. The fate of the Great Auk demonstrated how human action could drive a large, once-abundant species to extinction.