A similar story of a merganser taken by a predator:

I once watched a female Red-breasted Merganser fall to an adult Bald Eagle,
about 20 years ago off Iceberg Pt., Lopez Island. The eagle was flying
pretty low and fast, and made a stealthy dive for the merg, just missing it;
then it rose up and hovered directly above about 50 ft. up, evidently
watching the merg's underwater movements. The merg lingered as long as it
could underwater, but finally came up pretty close to its previous spot, and
the eagle came down at full speed, going into the sea almost completely--at
one point just wings, head and upper breast were visible. Still, the effort
was in vain, although only barely.

The eagle rose up to hover again, but didn't have to wait as long this time,
because the quite terrified merg came up sooner. The eagle missed on a 3rd
attempt, but this time rose only about 10-15' above the surface, apparently
sensing that the merg was played out. The merg, evidently exhausted, came
up a last time and was taken right as it broke the surface. The eagle
headed for a snag, very nonchalantly, it seemed, given the intensity of the
struggle just prior. A very memorable life-and-death encounter, one brought
to mind by Denis' account.

Scott Atkinson
Lake Stevens
mail to: scottratkinson at hotmail.com






>From: "Desilvis, Denis J" <denis.j.desilvis at boeing.com>
>Reply-To: denis.j.desilvis at boeing.com
>To: <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
>Subject: Common Merganser-Harbor Seal interaction: Death on the Duwamish
>Date: Mon, 3 Mar 2003 15:15:27 -0800
>
>Tweeters,
>Today, March 3, I watched a harbor seal chase, mortally injure, and at
>least partially devour an adult Common Merganser. This occurred on the
>Duwamish River next to the Boeing Developmental Center (off East Marginal
>Way across from the Museum of Flight) between 2:17pm and 2:39pm.
>
>I'd been scanning the river and saw two male Common Mergansers with one
>female near a flock of Mew Gulls. As I scanned to the right, I saw what I
>thought to be two more mergansers, one of which was chasing the other. (The
>glare off the river at that particular time made it difficult to see, but
>the one being pursued was clearly a Common Merganser.) When "one" of the
>mergansers surfaced, a harbor seal head popped up right next to it. The
>seal went under the merganser, and (apparently) pulled the merganser under.
>The merganser went under backward, which is not the usual way it dives. I
>realized then that what I mistook for the second merganser was the head of
>the seal as it pursued the merganser.
>
>In the next several minutes, the merganser would occasionally float to the
>surface--head up--and the seal would surface either next to it or very
>close by. The seal would then push the merganser and then dive beneath it,
>or simply dive beneath it. In either case, the merganser would go under,
>either straight down, tipped forward, or tipped backward. This occurred at
>least 7 times during the succeeding minutes. Once, the merganser came to
>the surface in a "flattened," head-down-on-the-surface position. Once, I
>saw the seal grab one of the orange feet of the merganser and pull the
>merganser under the surface. At no point after the initial chase and
>submergence did I see the merganser open its wings or otherwise attempt to
>escape.
>
>The last time I saw the merganser apparently alive (it turned its head to
>the side), the seal pushed it, then submerged, whereupon the merganser was
>again pulled under. A minute or so thereafter, the seal surfaced with
>something in its mouth (not a fish: very white) and then dove. Several
>minutes later, I relocated the seal when it surfaced. I did not see the
>merganser again. I did see some feathers on the surface, but that may have
>been from the initial chase.
>
>At 2:45 pm, I saw the seal moving against the tide back down the channel.
>
>I've certainly heard of sea mammals attacking and eating birds, but this
>was the first time I'd personally seen it.
>
>Denis J. DeSilvis
>Phantom Works - The Boeing Company
>206-655-1938
>denis.j.desilvis at boeing.com
>
>


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