Submitted by Peter Croal, member of the IUCN Commission on Education and Communications and co-founder of National Healing Forests Initiative
I don’t consider myself an author. In fact, I’m a retired geologist who spent years prospecting for minerals in more than 40 countries while also working as a wilderness canoe guide across Canada.
I enjoy photography, cultural and adventure travel, organic gardening, and fiddle playing.
But in 2023, there was something that made me write a story about an extinct, flightless, fish-eating bird once numbered in the millions and lived on islands in the North Atlantic.
During my career, and once retired, I had the fortunate opportunity to spend four terms as a Geologist in Residence on Fogo Island, Canada, which was once home to the Great Auk.
The Gr
eat Auk was less than a metre tall, not afraid of people and mated for life. Unfortunately, it was hunted to extinction in the 1840’s as its feathers, oil and meat was used in many ways by people back then.
Stepping off the ferry on Fogo Island, it is obvious that you have arrived at a special place where nature is so beautiful, plenty and very much part of the life of those who live there. This magical place, an island off the northeast coast of the province Newfoundland, is home to about 2,000 residents, caribou, wildflowers, berry plants, sea birds, whales, arctic tundra, foxes, a polar bear once in awhile and migrating birds. It also has some of the most unique geology in Canada.
Several years ago, an artist, Todd McGrain, created a bronze Great Auk statue that is situated on a wind-swept granite outcrop overlooking the ocean, gazing east to a similar Great Auk sculpture in Iceland. This was part of the Lost Birds Project.
When one hikes to the Great Auk sculpture, many, including me, give it a hug. It feels like such a natural thing to do. While hugging, one might say a few words about being sorry for humans causing its extinction.
In 2023, to honour the Great Auk, another artist who lives on Fogo Island, Fraser Carpenter, invited anyone on the island to share art, stories, tapestries, songs or carvings etc. She called it the Great Auk Celebration.
I wondered about what I could do to be part of this celebration, and then remembered how I, and many others, like to hug the Great Auk. I thought: “What if the Great Auk came to life in a spiritual way when it was hugged?” And what if it was a child who hugged the Great Auk, and the two of them had a conversation that only they could be part of that explored conservation, respect for nature and why we need to develop a relationship with the natural world.
The result is “Sarah’s Hug”. It takes about 15 minutes to read and is for kids 7-12. I hope you like it and I hope you visit Fogo Island someday. If you do, please give the Great Auk a hug, say hello and have a chat!