snip;
"Is their main prey surfacing nocturnal animals such
as squid? If so, do they have to have relatively flat seas in order to
feed successfully? The forwarded note from Gary Kaiser saying that the
wrecked specimens he had seen were emaciated lends credence to the
starvation/weather theory being the major cause of the fulmar deaths i.e.
storm force winds produced seas "lumpy" enough to prevent feeding ->
starving birds then either fell to the sea nearshore and were swept
onshore by wave action or were "wrecked" onshore and succumbed to either
wind/weather damage or "exposure" on land."

jcbowling at mindlink.bc.ca
Jack Bowling
Prince George, BC
Canada

In my experience Northern Fulmars are most active in rougher weather. Maybe
this is because they can fly with less effort (but not feed as successfully
?). Maybe these winter storms were just too rough for them to be able to
feed successfully. In the Gulf of Alaska and off B.C. they seem to be the
most common pelagic bird seen from my vessel anyway. I've seen them eat off
the surface usually anything that falls in the water. They seem to be
especially partial to halibut livers (high in fat).

A little side note;
Sooty Shearwaters often appeared in much lesser numbers and only after the
N. Fulmars have located the boat. Shearwaters were much better at locating
food often swimming in the middle of the Fulmar flock with their head
underwater and presumably their eyes open. Once located they'd swim down 6
feet or so to suck up a sinking piece of bait (its no wonder the fishermen
called them "Whalebirds" and the Fulmars "Sea Pigeons". The N. Fulmars were
not so successful and I rarely saw them chasing bait underwater.

Tracee Geernaert
tracee at iphc.washington.edu
International Pacific Halibut Commission
PO Box 95009
Seattle, WA
206: 634-1838