Seabird safety nixes Hawaii Friday night football

[July 24, 2010]  LIHUE, Hawaii (AP) -- High school football games on Hawaii's Kauai island will be held on Saturday afternoons instead of Friday nights this year to protect threatened seabirds.

The bright lights used during the night games confuse newborn Newell's shearwaters, which rely on moonlight to travel from their nests out to sea. Every year, an estimated 30 shearwaters become disoriented and fall from the skies because of the lights at Vidinha Stadium.

The first two games of the season won't be moved because they fall before the fledgling season begins on Sept. 15.

Under federal and state laws, the Kauai Interscholastic Federation can be fined up to $30,000 for each bird that dies. The federation decided on Wednesday to move the games.

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Information from: KGMB-TV, http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/

[Associated Press]

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