The last colony of great auks lived on Geirfuglasker (the "Great Auk Rock") off Iceland. This islet was a volcanic rock surrounded by cliffs which made it inaccessible to humans, but in 1830 the islet submerged after a volcanic eruption, and the birds moved to the nearby island of Eldey, which was accessible from a single side. When the colony was initially discovered in 1835, nearly fifty birds were present. Museums, desiring the skins of the auk for preservation and display, quickly began collecting birds from the colony. The last pair, found incubating an egg, was killed there on 3 July 1844, on request from a merchant who wanted specimens, with Jón Brandsson and Sigurður Ísleifsson strangling the adults and Ketill Ketilsson smashing the egg with his boot.

At this time, the idea of an animal going extinct was still a fringe idea. After a few different species disappeared, preservation societies and zoological societies began to realize the value in protecting rare plants and animals. It would be 60 years later when Teddy Roosevelt created the first National Parks, one goal of which was to provide spaces to preserve wildlife. Sixty years after that, The Endangered Species act is passed. The fight to save our natural world also gives us one of my favorite expressions: Charismatic Megafauna