[NatureNS] tracking shearwaters

From: "Laurie Murison" <gmwhale@nbnet.nb.ca>
To: <NATURENB@LISTSERV.UNB.CA>, <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
Date: Sat, 11 Oct 2008 09:13:18 -0300
Organization: GMWSRS
Precedence: bulk
Return-Path: <naturens-mml-owner@chebucto.ns.ca>
Original-Recipient: rfc822;"| (cd /csuite/info/Environment/FNSN/MList; /csuite/lib/arch2html)"

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If you haven't recently looked at the positions of the greater and sooty =
shearwaters that were satellite tagged in the Bay of Fundy, you might be =
surprised.  I know I am.  In 2006, all six greater shearwaters left the =
Bay at about the same time and travelled very similar routes, crossing =
the Atlantic to Africa, back to Brazil and then a month off Argentina =
before flying to their nesting islands in the Tristan da Cunha group.  =
In 2007, both sooty shearwaters headed across the Atlantic at about the =
same time, one flying to the North Sea before the batteries or tags =
failed.  These tracks are still available for viewing on the =
seaturtle.org archives.

This year, we had an unusual herring year in the Bay with herring =
staying deep and not arriving around Grand Manan until later in the =
summer.  The birds were very mobile probably trying to find surface =
aggregations of herring or krill.  Some of the tags have been on for =
over 50 days.  Of these, one greater shearwater is now off the tip of =
South Africa.  One has just arrived at Tristan da Cunha, although the =
bird off South Africa had the same flight path and completely over flew =
the nesting islands. A third is most likely dead, possibly caught in =
fishing gear.  The bird has been tracked onshore in Brazil because the =
satellite transmitter is still active.  A researcher in Brazil is trying =
to track down the satellite transmitter.  Another is still in the Bay of =
Fundy!  Birds tagged a little later are in various stages of migration =
with one south of Nova Scotia at the edge of the continental shelf, one =
just starting to cross the North Atlantic couple of days ago, one off =
Argentina, one off Brazil and one between South America and Africa. Of =
the two sooty shearwaters, one is definitely heading toward the UK and =
the other is still in the Bay of Fundy.

The flight paths can be seen at =
http://www.seaturtle.org/tracking/?project_id=3D311

Enjoy.

Laurie Murison

Grand Manan Whale & Seabird Research Station=20
24 Route 776
Grand Manan, NB Canada E5G 1A1
506 662 3804,  Fax 506 662 9804
http://www.gmwsrs.org
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<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; =
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<BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>If you haven't recently looked at the =
positions of=20
the greater and sooty shearwaters that were satellite tagged in the Bay =
of=20
Fundy, you might be surprised.&nbsp; I know I am.&nbsp; In 2006, all six =
greater=20
shearwaters left the Bay&nbsp;at about the same time and travelled very =
similar=20
routes, crossing the Atlantic to Africa, back to Brazil and then a month =
off=20
Argentina before flying to their nesting islands in the Tristan da Cunha =

group.&nbsp; In 2007, both sooty shearwaters headed across the Atlantic =
at about=20
the same time, one flying to the North Sea before the batteries or tags=20
failed.&nbsp; These tracks are still available for viewing on the =
seaturtle.org=20
archives.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>This year, we had an unusual herring =
year in the=20
Bay with herring staying deep and not arriving around Grand Manan until =
later in=20
the summer.&nbsp; The birds were very mobile probably trying to find =
surface=20
aggregations of herring or krill.&nbsp; Some of the tags have been on =
for over=20
50 days.&nbsp; Of these, one greater shearwater is now off the tip of =
South=20
Africa.&nbsp; One has just arrived at Tristan da Cunha, although the =
bird off=20
South Africa had the same flight path and completely over flew the =
nesting=20
islands. A third is most likely dead, possibly caught in fishing =
gear.&nbsp; The=20
bird has been tracked onshore in Brazil because the satellite =
transmitter is=20
still active.&nbsp; A researcher in Brazil is trying to track down the =
satellite=20
transmitter.&nbsp; Another is still in the Bay of Fundy!&nbsp; =
</FONT><FONT=20
face=3DArial size=3D2>Birds tagged a little later are in various stages =
of migration=20
with one&nbsp;south of Nova Scotia at the edge of the continental shelf, =
one=20
just starting&nbsp;to cross the North Atlantic&nbsp;couple of days ago, =
one off=20
Argentina, one off Brazil and one between South America and Africa. =
</FONT><FONT=20
face=3DArial size=3D2>Of the two sooty shearwaters, one is definitely =
heading toward=20
the UK and the other is still in the Bay of Fundy.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>The flight paths can be seen at <A=20
href=3D"http://www.seaturtle.org/tracking/?project_id=3D311">http://www.s=
eaturtle.org/tracking/?project_id=3D311</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Enjoy.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Laurie Murison</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2><BR>Grand Manan Whale &amp; Seabird =
Research=20
Station <BR>24 Route 776<BR>Grand Manan, NB Canada E5G 1A1<BR>506 662=20
3804,&nbsp; Fax 506 662 9804<BR><A=20
href=3D"http://www.gmwsrs.org">http://www.gmwsrs.org</A></FONT></DIV></BO=
DY></HTML>

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