'Galapagos of the North' on Edge After Possible Rat Sighting

A tiny, remote Alaskan island in the Bering Sea home to only about 350 people has been on the hunt for a potentially phantom rat that a resident may or may not have seen outside their home back in June. But for St. Paul Island—one of four Pribilof Islands also known as "Galapagos of the north" due to richness of bird life—a single rat could spell doom for the delicate ecosystem.

Rats often find their way to remote islands by stowing away on ships on aircraft, and can quickly decimate indigenous species of birds by feasting on eggs and the young. That's why the island takes even an unconfirmed sighting so seriously, and why it has enacted extensive measures to suss out a rat that, again, may not even exist.

"We know—because we’ve seen this on other islands and in other locations in Alaska and across the world — that rats absolutely decimate seabird colonies, so the threat is never one that the community would take lightly," Lauren Divine, director of the Aleut Community of St. Paul Island’s ecosystem conservation office, told the Associated Press. Divine compared the search to trying to find a needle in a haystack "and not knowing if a needle even exists."

After being alerted to the potential threat, wildlife officials scoured the apartment complex where the sighting occurred, crawling through the grass, around the building, and under the porch to search for any sign of tracks, chew marks, or droppings. Traps baited with peanut butter and trail cameras were also set out in hopes to confirm any existence of the rat, but so far nothing has turned up.

Yet, that hasn't stopped the search, which will likely continued for months. Residents have been advised to be on the lookout, and officials are in the process of seeking permission for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to bring a rat-sniffing canine to the island; which also forbids dogs in order to protect fur seals.

There are hundreds of other remote islands that have faced and successfully combated rat infestations, such as "Rat Island" in the Alaska’s Aleutian chain, which has since been renamed to Hawadax Island. However, because extermination efforts can cost millions and take several years, places such as St. Paul Island rely on prevention to keep rat populations nonexistent.

Already, the island has long-since had a rodent surveillance program in place, which includes rat traps near the airport and around waterfront areas where ships dock. Developed parts of the island likewise have preventative "chew" blocks made out of wax to record any incisor bites; some made of ultraviolet material so that inspectors can use black lights to search for droppings.

The last time a rat was definitively spotted on St. Paul Island was back in 2019, believed to have breached the island from a barge. It was finally found dead after a nearly year-long hunt, which is why Divine says that officials take even unsubstantiated sightings so seriously.