A brightly lit cruise ship is a beacon on the open ocean at night, and not only for other boaters.

Ships attract wildlife — notably seabirds.

On Kaua'i, residents are aware that Newell's shearwaters are drawn to stadium, street and hotel lights as they make their first flights from the mountain burrows where they hatch. But adult seabirds of various species also are apparently attracted to the lights of ships at sea.

Diane Simmons, a resident of Coquitlam, British Columbia, was on a Carnival cruise from Vancouver to Hawai'i Sept. 20 to Oct. 2 and came upon seabirds on board. One had been coated in oil. Simmons is a wildlife rescue volunteer and knew how to clean the bird.

"Thankfully the oil washed off with minimal effort, and after placing the bird in a covered shallow box and leaving it on the lanai, we found it gone by morning. I want to believe that it successfully flew away," she said in an e-mail.

The next day, another seabird of a different species was found "quivering on the open deck and passengers throwing bread at it." She said she persuaded the purser's office to take the bird and was told they would turn them over to authorities at the next Hawaiian port.

Kaua'i's Save Our Shearwaters program is the most robust of its kind in the state, and has special cages at fire stations and Nawiliwili Harbor where people can put found shearwaters and other seabirds during the fledging season.

"We're finding species that breed in New Zealand — types of birds we never knew were in Hawaiian waters," said Andrea Erichsen, Kaua'i seabird habitat recovery plan coordinator with the state Division of Forestry and Wildlife. They include sooty shearwaters and Cook's petrels, from south of the Equator.

Erichsen said Norwegian Cruise Line crews are pretty akamai about protecting seabirds and placing them in the aid stations, and she is working with other cruise lines that visit less frequently.

If you have a question or concern about the Hawaiian environment, drop a note to Jan TenBruggencate at P.O. Box 524, Lihu'e, HI 96766 or jant@honoluluadvertiser.com. Or call him at (808) 245-3074.