The satellite tagged greater shearwaters in the South Atlantic are starting to begin their migration to the North Atlantic after spending time off Argentina preparing themselves for the long trip. Several birds are now off Brazil. http://www.seaturtle.org/tracking/index.shtml?project_id=452
The northward migration of the greater shearwaters have never been tracked by satellite and it will be interesting to see the route, just as it was the first season our researcher, Rob Ronconi, placed the first satellite transmitters on shearwaters in 2006. Tracks for the three years of tracking greater shearwaters in the Bay of Fundy and their southward migration can be found at:
2006: http://www.seaturtle.org/tracking/index.shtml?project_id=176
2008: http://www.seaturtle.org/tracking/?project_id=311
2009: http://www.seaturtle.org/tracking/index.shtml?project_id=436
In 2007, two sooty shearwaters were tracked: http://www.seaturtle.org/tracking/index.shtml?project_id=237
Showing posts with label satellite telemetry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label satellite telemetry. Show all posts
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Herring Gull Makes Round Trip
Who would have thought that herring gulls would be a harbinger of spring!?
One of the herring gulls tagged last spring on Kent Island, a small island off the coast of Grand Manan Island has completed a round trip from Kent Island to the Chesapeake Bay area and back. The bird was one of three that were fitted with satellite transmitters to follow their movements in the Bay of Fundy. The added benefit is that all three birds were migratory, spending the winter in Chesapeake Bay area. Normally this would be a great place for a herring gull but the area was plagues with severe winter storms this year. The other two birds have not returned yet and we wait to see if they will show site fidelity and nest again on Kent Island. the tracks of all three birds can be found at http://www.seaturtle.org/tracking/index.shtml?project_id=428.
Of the nine greater shearwaters fitted with satellite tags last summer, only two remain transmitting, over 200 days of data. The failure of the tag is often the battery but sometimes the birds die. One tag transmitter for several weeks from Inaccessible Island in the South Atlantic where shearwaters nest. it is suspected that the bird was prey to a skua, a large predatory seabird, which patrol the nesting colonies. We also had a transmitter returned last year from a Brazilian fisherman who had caught the shearwater on longlines. Bycatch in fisheries can be a major factor in seabird mortality. The birds are attracted to the baited hooks and can not see the hook. Surface drift nets may also entangle large numbers of seabirds. There are efforts in some areas to reduce the bycatch but it is still a problem in some areas. The tracks of the greater shearwaters can be seen at http://www/seaturtle.org/tracking/?project_id=435
Rob Ronconi, one of our seabird biologists, spent three months in the South Atlantic last fall including time on both Gough and Inaccessible Islands. He helped tag 22 nesting or pre-nesting greater shearwaters. The birds have been wide ranging from South America to South Africa in the same areas that the birds we have tagged from the summer in the Bay of Fundy also range once they reach the South Atlantic. Although four tags have failed, it is hoped that the tags last long enough that the northward migration may be captured as well as the forging in the South Atlantic. These tracks can be viewed at http://www.seaturtle.org/tracking/index.shtml?project_id=452
One of the herring gulls tagged last spring on Kent Island, a small island off the coast of Grand Manan Island has completed a round trip from Kent Island to the Chesapeake Bay area and back. The bird was one of three that were fitted with satellite transmitters to follow their movements in the Bay of Fundy. The added benefit is that all three birds were migratory, spending the winter in Chesapeake Bay area. Normally this would be a great place for a herring gull but the area was plagues with severe winter storms this year. The other two birds have not returned yet and we wait to see if they will show site fidelity and nest again on Kent Island. the tracks of all three birds can be found at http://www.seaturtle.org/tracking/index.shtml?project_id=428.
Of the nine greater shearwaters fitted with satellite tags last summer, only two remain transmitting, over 200 days of data. The failure of the tag is often the battery but sometimes the birds die. One tag transmitter for several weeks from Inaccessible Island in the South Atlantic where shearwaters nest. it is suspected that the bird was prey to a skua, a large predatory seabird, which patrol the nesting colonies. We also had a transmitter returned last year from a Brazilian fisherman who had caught the shearwater on longlines. Bycatch in fisheries can be a major factor in seabird mortality. The birds are attracted to the baited hooks and can not see the hook. Surface drift nets may also entangle large numbers of seabirds. There are efforts in some areas to reduce the bycatch but it is still a problem in some areas. The tracks of the greater shearwaters can be seen at http://www/seaturtle.org/tracking/?project_id=435
Rob Ronconi, one of our seabird biologists, spent three months in the South Atlantic last fall including time on both Gough and Inaccessible Islands. He helped tag 22 nesting or pre-nesting greater shearwaters. The birds have been wide ranging from South America to South Africa in the same areas that the birds we have tagged from the summer in the Bay of Fundy also range once they reach the South Atlantic. Although four tags have failed, it is hoped that the tags last long enough that the northward migration may be captured as well as the forging in the South Atlantic. These tracks can be viewed at http://www.seaturtle.org/tracking/index.shtml?project_id=452
Friday, December 25, 2009
Herring Gulls to the Chesapeake
In July (2009), three nesting herring gulls on Kent Island, just south of Grand Manan Island and the field station for Bowdoin College (Maine), were fitted with satellite transmitters. One gull headed to the Chesapeake immediately after a failed nesting attempt while the other two remained in the area, one spending many months in Maine and the other in Nova Scotia. In December these two gulls started migrating and are now also in the Chesapeake area. You can follow the movements of these birds on the seaturtle.org website (http://www.seaturtle.org/tracking/index.shtml?project_id=428). The tags, if they stay on, will operate from two to three years and should provide valuable insight into a species of birds we often take for granted.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Research in May
It won't be long before we have some of our researchers return for two projects. While most people will be arriving in July, Dr. Rob Ronconi and Sarah Wong will be arriving the last week of May to go to Kent Island for the week to begin a study of herring gulls. Herring gulls are very difficult to catch at sea but Rob and Sarah will be trying to obtain samples (small bits of feather and blood) from herring gulls that are beginning to nest on Kent Island. The birds will be temporarily restrained, the samples taken and released as quickly as possible to minimize the stress to the birds and disturbance to nesting. This project is part of Rob's continuing study of diet in seabirds. Satellite telemetry tags will also be attached to some of the gulls to determine what areas they are utilizing in the Bay and will be compared to areas used by sooty and greater shearwaters. These feeding "hot spots" are important to define as a recognition of potential areas that need protection from such damaging events such as oil spills. In all likelihood these are also important areas for marine mammals.
Kent Island is the field station for Bowdoin College in Bowdoin, ME. The island was purchased by Stirling Rockefeller and donated to the college. Their main focus is nesting seabirds (Leach's Storm Petrels, Common Eiders, etc.) but also study fog and nesting land birds. Bowdoin College also now owns two other islands in the Three Island group. Sheep Island has a small nesting colony of common terns that we helped for a number of years until circumstances prevented us from continuing. The colony was very busy last year and we hope that it will continue.
Dr. Heather Koopman and Dr. Andrew Westgate will also be arriving the last week of May for about a week. Heather has a project looking at lipid (fat) content in lobster eggs and she goes out lobster fishing with some of the local lobster fishermen to obtain the necessary samples for analysis. The more fat in an egg, the better chance of survival of the egg.
We will be opening our Gaskin Museum of Marine Life toward the end of May, beginning of June.
Kent Island is the field station for Bowdoin College in Bowdoin, ME. The island was purchased by Stirling Rockefeller and donated to the college. Their main focus is nesting seabirds (Leach's Storm Petrels, Common Eiders, etc.) but also study fog and nesting land birds. Bowdoin College also now owns two other islands in the Three Island group. Sheep Island has a small nesting colony of common terns that we helped for a number of years until circumstances prevented us from continuing. The colony was very busy last year and we hope that it will continue.
Dr. Heather Koopman and Dr. Andrew Westgate will also be arriving the last week of May for about a week. Heather has a project looking at lipid (fat) content in lobster eggs and she goes out lobster fishing with some of the local lobster fishermen to obtain the necessary samples for analysis. The more fat in an egg, the better chance of survival of the egg.
We will be opening our Gaskin Museum of Marine Life toward the end of May, beginning of June.
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