Saving the blue-footed booby, one pair of socks at a time

Will Gladstone remembers first learning about the blue-footed booby in his fifth grade science class. It helps that they are distinctive birds: They have cerulean flippers and a wingspan stretching about 5 feet. They’re known for their wobbly mating dance and are an icon of the Galápagos Islands, located more than 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador.

“They’re really kind of a unique bird, and whenever someone goes to the Galápagos, that’s the thing that will stick in everybody’s head,” says Will, a high school freshman from Arlington, Massachusetts. 

The blue-footed booby population in the Galápagos has shrunk to a third of its size since the 1960s. This fact stayed with Will, who grew up