More on bird deaths on cruise ships.

Image from Dare to Bird website.

I wrote a letter to a number of bird advocacy groups (Audubon, etc) about the deaths of birds on cruise ships.  If you want to see more, do a search on YouTube using "birds dead on cruise ship" or something similar.  My letter is below.

I have recently become aware of the fact that countless birds are killed every year in the cruise ship industry.  This stems from my recent cruise aboard the Noordam, a ship belonging to Holland America.  While on a cruise to Alaska (September 14-28, 2025) there was the horrendous spectacle of thousands of birds flying about the ship very early in the morning.  There were many dead ones on various surfaces and a few live ones that were hopping about.

I researched the phenomenon and discovered this was far from an isolated incident.  It seems that, particularly during migration season, thousands of birds are killed every year on cruise ships.  This isn’t isolated to the cruise industry but they are a major contributor because they run at night with lights aglow, which causes both disorientation and

The significance of such events cannot be underestimated.  I am including three links, one is a daily blog that I write and the other two speak to the situation as described.  The links are below:

           1.       https://blogsbyericsvendsen.blogspot.com/2025/10/cruise-ships-are-birds-dying-by.html

2.      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqwgwK2Wgxw

3.      https://daretobird.blogspot.com/2020/05/hundreds-of-birds-die-on-cruise-ship.html

My purpose in writing this letter is to ask, “What can be done to reduce bird deaths on cruise lines?” and to encourage the powers that be to search for solutions.  Right now there is little public awareness of the issue and the cruise industry downplays it.  In fact, I would go as far to say that the cruise industry hides the fact from the public.  My understanding is that crews are told to dispose of bird carcasses and injured birds as quickly as possible so as to keep the public in the dark about the situation.  They no doubt don’t want to affect their bottom line.

In short, the cruise line hides the bird casualties in order to benefit financially.  I find this appalling.  I do believe something can be done.  There just has to be an incentive.  Getting the word around is a good start.  This is where I see your organization coming in.  There is little I can do other than what I am doing.  Will you help?  All I want is to save birds.

 Thanks, Eric Svendsen          www.ericspixdotcom@gmail.com           www.ericspix.com