Take II! Try Again

April 10, 1997
6:15 p.m.
Edmonds Fishing Pier
calm, sunny

While searching for a Pelagic Cormorant which had been diving near the
north-south jetty (I "lost"
it and was looking south of the jetty), I observed a lot of splashing,
apparently caused by a small
diving bird. This was taking place approximately a couple of hundred
meters due south of the pier
(perhaps 150). The bird appeared to "plow" around the surface of the
water, and I saw it flip a
herring in its bill. I continued to watch as the water was stirred
continually by this bird, and
THEN in an area perhaps 2 or 3 m in diameter a school of herring jumped
clear of the water,
perhaps 15 cm, and a couple of hundred fish. They jumped "in mass",
their silvery bodies
flashing, and then disappeared. Soon the bird was seen on the surface
(it had been submerged)
again, and then it dove once more. This phenomenon occurred another
three times while I watched,
the herring jumping up together as if to escape the attacking bird. The
bird was a Rhinocerous
Auklet, when it slowed from the fishing frenzy, I could clearly see the
"horn" on the bird. A couple
of minutes later, the auklet came in towards the jetty and resumed
diving near the Pelagic
Cormorant I was observing, apparently not having eaten its fill!

Has anyone observed this behavior?

Susan McDougall
Susan.C.McDougall at Boeing.Com