It is worth noting that collectors, those who clearly recognized that the Great Auk was dying out, helped hasten their collective demise in their pursuit of specimens. The last 2 Great Auks ever seen were clubbed to death by sailors hired by a collector. After their slaughter, they discovered a single egg, which had been inadvertently trampled upon in the fracas.

If I recall correctly, there may have been a few unsubstantiated reports of post-1844 sightings, but even they stopped after just a few decades, and nothing more has ever been seen of them. Despite the scarceness of people in the region of the North Atlantic, the breeding site requirements of the Great Auk were well-known, post-1844 expeditions were carried out to find them, and it is hard to imagine that they could still exist unseen somewhere. We’re not talking about a giant ape dwarfed by the forest of trees around him hiding away in caves and underbrush somewhere, but a black and white, man-sized bird breeding on flat, featureless stretches of rocky coast. I would love for one to be found, but face it, they are almost certainly no more.

Looks like a good read on a fascinating subject. For those interested in a surprisingly informative book on the history of the auks and many other previously extant species encountered in the old world’s expansion into the new world, I highly recommend Farley Mowat’s “Sea of Slaughter”. It provides great insight into the undiminished wildlife the fist europeans discovered when they took to boats and crossed the seas to where technology had not previously been much seen. It created incredible wealth at an inconceivable price.