Selling Socks to Save Seabirds - BROTHERS WILL AND MATTY GLADSTONE ARE COMMITTED TO CONSERVATION.
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Reprinted with permission from Muse Magazine, © 2020 by Cricket Media
Selling
Socks
to Save
Seabirds
BROTHERS WILL AND MATTY
GLADSTONE ARE COMMITTED Matty (left) and W ill
ies.
raise money to
study and protec
t
TO CONSERVATION. blue-footed boob
by Elizabeth Watson Chaney
W
ill Gladstone, an Dance of the Silly Birds a sight to behold! The word ‘booby,’ by
amateur birder, was in The blue-footed booby is a unique the way, comes from the Spanish word
his 5th-grade science seabird that lives near the Pacific bobo, meaning “foolish” or “clown.”
class in Newton, coast, from California all the way
Massachusetts, when to the Galapagos Islands. These Getting the
he first heard of an goose-sized birds have an impressive Foundation Going
eye-catching bird. It’s called the wingspan—about five feet (1.5 m) Starting the foundation began with a
blue-footed booby. The population wide. Their distinctive feet are bright search for blue socks. Will and his dad
is declining, he learned. Will enough to send you searching for searched online for companies that
decided to raise money to support your sunglasses. During mating made them. They found the best price
conservation efforts. As he was season, they like to show off with a from a supplier in China. The next
brainstorming ideas, his gaze came unique dance. They lift one blue foot step was to have a logo contest. After
to rest on his feet, and the idea hit up into the air at a time to give the selecting their favorite design, Will
him. Feet, he thought, blue feet! He best possible view. Ornithologists and Matty sent it to the sock company
decided to sell bright blue socks and (scientists who study birds) refer to to customize the product. Their dad
donate the money to environmental the dance as “foot rocking.” Males loaned them money to order a few
organizations trying to help the whistle as they dance, while females hundred pairs. After the socks arrived,
birds. His younger brother Matty draw attention to themselves by Will set up a website. When the first
became his partner. The boys making honking noises. The spectacle orders started coming in, they mailed
started the Blue Feet Foundation transforms them from simply silly socks to customers right away. The
in 2016. looking to laugh-out-loud comical. It’s boys planned to donate all profits (the
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Watc
h me
danc
e!
11
amount left over after a business pays and New Zealand. Visit the picture
its expenses) to groups that help the gallery on their website and
blue-footed booby. you’ll also see blue socks being
In the beginning, it was a challenge modeled by a few famous folks,
for the boys to gather support for their including members of Blue Man
cause. They decided to ask a better- Group (known worldwide for their
known conservation organization to performance art) and a Boston
sponsor them. They reached out to Bruins hockey player.
several, but none were willing. “They At first the boys packaged
didn’t agree to it, because we were just all the sock orders themselves.
kids,” says Will. But as business boomed, it
Although this was discouraging, began to interfere with getting
the two persevered. Finally, they their homework done. To speed
came across an organization they up the process, they hired a
hadn’t heard of before: the Galapagos nearby company to take over the
Conservancy. Its mission is to support packaging. They also moved sock
conservation in the Galapagos Islands, purchases from China to Ecuador.
which lie about 600 miles (970 km) This helped support the Ecuadorian
off the coast of Ecuador. This group economy, and customers like the
of islands is home to about half of the socks even more.
world’s blue-footed booby population.
The conservancy staff replied with an
enthusiastic response.“We love what
you are doing!” they cheered. They
offered to highlight the foundation in
the conservancy’s newsletter. “That
helped a lot,” says Will. It gave them
confidence in their new venture and
boosted the Blue Feet Foundation’s
credibility. The brothers also created a
social media presence.
Four years later, their persever-
ance has paid off. They have 18,000
Instagram followers and 10,000
Facebook followers and counting.
The 18,000 pairs of socks they’ve
sold are walking all over the globe.
Orders have come from 50 different
countries, including places as far
away from Massachusetts as Japan
BIRDING AS A HOBBY: Inspiration from Will Gladstone
What is a birder? A birder is a person What is a list? Most birders keep lists Will’s best birding tips: “Get
who enjoys observing birds in the of all the birds they’ve been able to some bird guides, or just go out in
wild and trying to identify them. identify in their natural habitats. At last nature and explore.” You can also
Most birders invest in a good set of count, Will had about 250 different birds find birding excursions through a
binoculars. Will’s pair was purchased on his. He’s studied them enough that number of wildlife organizations.
by his parents on a whale-watching he can identify them by their physical Will is grateful for his family, who
adventure in Alaska, but they’ve appearance, and sometimes he can supports and shares his interest. On
turned into a fine set of birding recognize them by their unique calls. birding trips, says his brother Matty,
binoculars. Each species has its own. “Will is basically our guide.”
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The Benefits of Giving Anderson has seen some
Will and Matty have raised more than hopeful signs. These include
$130,000 in profits, all of which they an increase in young birds.
have donated to either the Galapagos There is still work to be
Conservancy or the Charles Darwin done, however. Although
Foundation (which has become the decline in population is
another sponsor). The money enabled slowing, it’s not reversing.
biology professor David Anderson Elderly birds are dying faster
from Wake Forest University to travel than chicks are being born.
to the Galapagos in 2017. He wanted “What they need is a
to study why the blue-footed boobies specific kind of fish,” says
aren’t flourishing as they used to. “All Anderson. Sardines were
nesting colonies in Galapagos are in once a major part of the
the Galapagos National Park,” explains birds’ diet but they “have
Anderson. “No one can mess with them all but disappeared.”
or even be on land near them without a Anderson says
special permit.” it’s not clear
Although the population of these what’s causing
birds in the Galapagos has declined the sardine
significantly over the past 20 years, population to
drop. The birds
make up for the with $10,000 in prize money.
calories by eating They donated the entire amount
other types of fish. to the Galapagos Conservancy.
But researchers suspect In the summer of 2017, Will’s class
that the low percentage of sardines went on a week-long trip to Ecuador,
in their diet is somehow related to including a few days on the Galapagos
their lower breeding rates. As of now, islands, where he got his first glimpse
scientists do not know how to boost of a blue-footed booby in the wild.
text © 2020 by Elizabeth Watson Chaney
sardine populations. Although it was from a distance, he
Will, now 15, has won several says it was “an awesome feeling.”
awards for his efforts to help his
blue-footed friends. In 2017 the Elizabeth Watson Chaney is a freelance
brothers received the John Muir Youth writer based in North Carolina. She was
Conservation Initiative Award. In 2018 introduced to birding as a child. Her father,
Will received honorable mention in who just turned 80, has been a birder for
the Action for Nature International 70 years!
Eco-Hero Awards. And in 2019 the
brothers received a Gloria Barron
Prize for Young Heroes, which came See
you o
there ut
.
Favorite birds: In addition Booby birding: Say you’re in the
to the blue-footed booby tropics and spy a bird that looks
(obviously), Will is especially like a booby but doesn’t have
fond of the rose-breasted blue feet. Don’t second guess
grosbeak with its bold black- yourself! The booby is actually a
and-red coloring. “They’re not family of seabirds, and their feet
that common,” explains Will, are not all blue. You might have
“so it’s really exciting when you spotted a red- or brown-footed
see one.” booby.
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