Subject: From: David Mark <dmark at geog.buffalo.edu>
Date: Thu, 1 Aug 2002 16:08:25 -0400 (EDT)

The article says that the penguin was photographed. Are pictures of the
Alaska penguin available on the web?

David
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David M. Mark
Amherst, New York (near Buffalo; home location)
dmark at geog.buffalo.edu
http://www.geog.buffalo.edu/~dmark/
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Hi David -

KRBD radio news story; scroll down to 'local news' for audio report and a
photo at the bottom..
http://www.krbd.org/

and a photo of the bird..
http://www.krbd.org/penguin_072902.jpg

"Talk about a catch! The fishing vessel Chirikof this month caught a penguin
in its seine net near Noyes Island off the west coast of Prince of Wales
Island. A penguin expert at the University of Washington has identified the
bird as a Humboldt Penguin, which hails from South America. As Deanna
Garrison reports, bird experts from around the state say this is the first
time a penguin has been documented in Alaska. (MP3) July 29 2002 - Web
posted Monday - July 29 2002..."
***********************************
Dee Boersma, from the UW was interviewed for the story; she speculated that
the bird could have been transported as a "pet" from the Galapagos, or that
it could be a member or offspring of a group of penguins that were observed
off Vancouver Island about 15 years ago. The bird was released from the
fishing net it was caught in, and released back to the Noyes Island area
waters. Maybe it'll cruise past our coastline this fall?

What a cool story!
Jon. Anderson
Olympia, Washington
festuca at olywa.net

There's a discussion of this on the Bird-Bycatch Listserver...

>>> "Kim Rivera" <Kim.Rivera at noaa.gov> 08/02/02 11:13AM >>>
interesting! here's additional sightings reported off British Columbia....

Humboldt Penguin (Spehniscus humboldti)

Page 390 in Campbell, R. W. et al. 1990. The Birds of British Columbia.
Volume One. Nonpasserines. CWS/RBCM


British Columbia records:

1944: a report of a single penguin on a beach at Rose Spit, Masset, Queen
Charlotte Islands.

1975: a report of a single penguin at Long Beach.

June 1978: three reports of 1-2 penguins, presumed to be of this species,
off northern Vancouver Island at three separate localities.

"It is unlikely the penguins sighted in British Columbia were caged escapees
or that they dispersed 10,000 km by swimming from their range
off the Peruvian and Chilean coasts. Rather, the occurrences are considered
to be the result of transport and release by fishermen."

Washington State record:

27 August 1985: a Humboldt Penguin was observed off the Washington coast,
according to Steve Speich (pers. comm.).

Mjrauz at aol.com wrote:

> That reminds me that back in the USFWS Outer Continental Shelf Energy
Exploration Cruises, in 1976, some neophte observers reported seeing "brown
penguins" in the Gulf of Alaska. We laughed it off as a typo- assuming they
saw 'brown pelicans," in itself an extralimital observation. So if this bird
is not a release, they could have seen them before up north.
>
> Mark Rauzon
> Marine Endeavours