SEABIRDS AT SEA: SIGHTINGS FROM BRITISH RESEARCH SHIPS
Dr Russell B Wynn
http://www.soc.soton.ac.uk/CHD/staff_stu/Russel-Wynn/index.html
Southampton Oceanography Centre
Introduction
During my work as a Marine Geoscientist I have recently undertaken a number of research cruises in the north-east Atlantic Ocean. These cruises have taken place on board the NERC research vessels RRS Discovery and RRS Charles Darwin.
Although the work is principally geology-based, I always manage to find time during cruises to observe seabirds and any land-based migrants that hop aboard. With the current upsurge in popularity of pelagic trips I thought I would recount some of my own experiences of the last four years, covering cruises offshore of the Canary Islands, the UK margin, and southern Spain.
March 10th-20th, 2001
Madeira - Canary Islands
This trip began in Madeira, with three 1st winter Ring-Billed Gulls seen enjoying the sun on the beach at Funchal. These were accompanied by good numbers of 'atlantis' race Yellow-legged Gulls and/or 'graellsi' race Lesser Black-backed Gulls (these two species need extremely close scrutiny and patience to separate them confidently - see the recent Surfbirds article by Brian Small). Numerous sightings of Canary, Common Buzzard and Monarch butterfly provided some additional interest. Once the cruise was underway we quickly headed south towards the western Canary Islands. The sea was generally quiet, although when we reached 55 km NW of La Palma island a stiff NE wind produced a Turtle Dove and three Swallows on the ship (13th). The following day saw a Little Shearwater and five Cory's Shearwaters on the sea. On 16th we came close inshore off Hierro island and began to pick up good numbers of Cory's Shearwaters, as well as a single Great Skua and a few 'atlantis' Yellow-legged Gulls. However, the best bird arrived on the deck on the night of the 18th, about 100 km SW of Hierro island. The ship was stationary with all the deck lights on and I went out to see how the work was going. A movement in the corner caught my eye and I walked over to see a large petrel trying to hide away under some stairs. As I brought it out into the lights I was amazed to find myself holding a White-faced Storm-Petrel, a lifer and a really hard bird to get hold of! Fortunately the bird wasn't injured so I boxed it until dawn. At first light I took a series of photos and was relieved to see the bird skip away across the waves on its release.
This species breeds in good numbers on the Selvage Islands (north of the Canary Islands) but is very rarely seen at sea so I was especially pleased to get one "in the hand".
A single Feral/Racing Pigeon on board later that day was something of an anticlimax! The trip ended in Tenerife with a few more Cory's Shearwaters and large numbers of Portuguese Man-o-War jellyfish.
click here to read about our August-September trip to the Southern Iberian margin and many others.
