Text size:
News
SOS Cagarro campaign kicks off Wednesday, mobilising public and private entities
Oct. 14, 2025
The Regional Government will launch the 31st edition of the SOS Cagarro campaign on Wednesday, October 15, which will run until November 15. It will mobilise volunteers and engage public and private entities across all islands to save the juvenile Calonectris borealis (Cory's shearwater) birds — one of the archipelago's most emblematic seabirds.
Coordinated by the Regional Directorate for Maritime Policies, with direct support from the Regional Secretariat for the Environment and Climate Action, the campaign arescue biis aimed at rescuing disoriented by light pollution, reducing the risk of being hit by cars and predators.
The Azores are home to about 75% of the world's population of shearwaters, which reinforces their international responsibility for preserving this species, recognised by the OSPAR Commission under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. Since 1995, tens of thousands of birds have been saved with the help of schools, associations, local authorities and citizens.
In 2024, the campaign rescued 6,388 Cory's shearwater specimens, providing veterinary care to 31 and recording the loss of 273 individuals.
In June this year, during the OSPAR Convention ministerial meeting in Vigo, a proposal presented by Portugal, led by the Azorean Government, was approved to consider the Cory's shearwater species as a new common bioindicator of floating plastic pollution in Region V (Wider Atlantic).
This achievement places the Azores at the forefront of international marine litter monitoring, replacing the fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) as an indicator species in this area of the Atlantic, where it does not occur.
During the campaign, everyone is invited to actively collaborate in rescuing birds affected by light pollution, participate in night patrols and awareness-raising activities promoted by the campaign coordinators on each island: the Environment and Climate Action Services.
Rescued birds can be registered via the official website https://portal.azores.gov.pt/web/drpm/sos-cagarro directly using the QR code available on the rescue boxes and other promotional materials.
The SOS Environment line – 800 292 800 – operates 24 hours a day, free of charge, to assist any citizen in rescuing birds.
🌐 https://portal.azores.gov.pt/web/drpm/sos-cagarro
📞 SOS Ambiente – 800 292 800