The SEANET Volunteer Newsletter Vol 3, Spring 2007 is here!!
The next volunteer newsletter will come out in Fall 2007. Please send us your stories or observations from doing beached bird walks; we'd like to include them in the newsletter. Thanks!
Online data entry is available!
Email us (seanet"at"tufts.edu) to get username and password and get started at: http://wildlifedisease.nbii.gov/seanet/loginscreen.jsp
Recent seabird mortality events:
Greater Shearwater mortality event in the Southeast
July 2007: Reports of dead and dying shearwaters occurred from the Bahamas, Florida, and the Carolinas. Most birds were juveniles, and many were found emaciated. According to several experts, this type of mortality event occurs from time to time, and usually involves juveniles that are migrating north from breeding sites in the southern hemisphere. Most Greater Shearwaters "winter" (our summer) off the Grand Banks but a few winter as far south as the Carolinas. The young are not experienced and must learn to feed and fly. Some years when there are no winds in the tropics the shearwaters can't fly (soar), and because of the low productivity of the oxygen- starved tropical waters they can't feed. By the time they make it into the Northern Hemisphere they are starved and exhausted. This is likely the cause of the large die-off this year.
Pelican die-off in Florida
December 2006: Tufts Wildlife Clinic received a call on 11 Dec. 2006 about a large die-off of pelicans in north Florida (around Jacksonville). Several of the birds were observed falling over dead and some were seen walking down streets before dying. It is possible that environmental toxins might be the cause, but investigations are presently being initiated. Common Eider die-off in Massachusetts
October - November 2006: Several dead eiders reported to Tufts Wildlife Clinic and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. Tufts and WHOI researchers collected fresh carcasses from beaches along Wellfleet Bay. All told, a few hundred eiders died in the outer Cape area. Necropsies of dead birds revealed some signs of parasitism from "thorny-headed worms", but parasites did not appear to cause mortality. A few individuals also tested positive for avian cholera. Interestingly, no other dead birds were found (except 1 gull, which appeared to have died from blunt trauma). We are presently waiting for additional lab results in order to determine the ultimate cause of death. Stay tuned......
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