The Great Auk, On Eldey Rock

“Little is known about the life habits of the great auk. It stood three feet high, resembled the penguin and was flightless. Scientists suppose it nested in May, laid one very large egg and incubated it for forty-four days. It’s recorded that Icelanders collected these eggs late in June.

The great auk nested from Newfoundland to Scandinavia by the millions, and was favored by fishermen in the early 1800’s for its meat and oil.

Two events hastened the bird’s demise. During the Napoleonic Wars sailors aboard schooners from Reykjavik stopped at Penguin Island, a large nesting area, to slaughter thousands of these creatures for food. Then in the spring of 1830, this island disappeared beneath the water, and the surviving birds swam to nearby Eldey Island. It was here on June 3, 1844, that Icelandic fishermen killed the last two great auks for the reward of one hundred crowns. On June 3, 1975, I viewed the island of Eldey and imagined how the scene may have appeared if the great auk had not been such an easy prey for man. I used Eldey as the background for my painting and was loaned one of the finest mounted auk specimens in the world by the Cincinnati Museum Center”

          John A. Ruthven