Cape May, NJ, Cape Hatteras, NC, and a few coastal spots in Maryland are
reporting shearwaters visible from shore this month. Brian Patteson tells me
that Greaters are fairly common inshore, apparently drawn there by baitfish
schools. Cory's and Manx have been seen to the north. Bob Anderson found a
dead
Greater at Virginia Beach last week as well. It's likely that Chincoteague
will offer views of 2-3 species of shearwaters during east winds (last several
days) too. The local paper included the following article on the die-off:
Deaths of sea birds have wildlife officials puzzled
BY JON W. GLASS
THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
VIRGINIA BEACH - Wildlife officials are investigating the mysterious deaths
of hundreds of sea birds that have washed up on beaches along the Atlantic
coast since mid-June, including south of Sandbridge and on the Outer Banks.
Most of the birds have been greater shearwaters , which are now migrating
north from their breeding grounds in the South Atlantic. The birds, while
fairly common, are rarely seen by beachgoers because they typically stay 30 to
100 miles offshore, where they feed on small fish and squid.
Some of the birds have washed up alive, unable to fly and appearing weak,
and later died. The number of dead birds has alarmed wildlife officials, who
are scrambling to pinpoint a cause.
More than 500 dead sea birds have been reported from Maryland to Florida
since June 12, said Emi Saito, a wildlife disease specialist with the U.S.
Geological Survey's National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wis.
"It's unusual to see so many," Saito said this week.
Wildlife pathologists are examining the carcasses for exposure to toxins,
pollutants such as heavy metals and infections that might indicate a broader
environmental concern, she said.
During the past week, staffers at the Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge
in Virginia Beach have found about a dozen dead greater s h e a r w a t e r s
on the beach, said Dorie Stolley, a wildlife biologist.
Only a few remained in good enough condition to be examined, and the
others were incinerated by city animal control officers, she said.
Staffers used rubber gloves and took other precautions while collecting
the birds. People are advised not to touch dead birds they find on the beach.
Reports of dead birds also have come from Ocracoke and Hatteras Island on
the Outer Banks.
Diane Duncan, an ecologist with the federal wildlife agency's Ecological
Services Office in Charleston, S.C., said the first reports came from Myrtle
Beach, Hilton Head and several nearby islands.
Nearly 200 birds have washed up since then in South Carolina, Duncan
said.
"In 20 years here, I have never seen this kind of mortality event,"
Duncan said. "It certainly is a concern to us, and we'd like to know the cause."
Tests on two of the birds ruled out toxins found in red tide, a type of
algal bloom that biologists initially suspected as a culprit, Duncan said.
Will Post, an ornithologist and curator at The Charleston Museum, said he
had dissected six greater shearwaters that had washed up alive, unable to
fly, and later died.
The birds' stomachs were empty, but they had varying levels of fat
reserves, suggesting that they did not die of starvation, Post said.
"They were below normal weight, but that's normal when they're in
migration," he said.
The shearwaters fly nearly 5,000 miles during their annual migrations to
and from their nesting grounds on Tristan da Cunha, a chain of volcanic
islands in the South Atlantic, Post said. The cold-water birds breed in April
and
May and then fly to their summer grounds off New England and points north, he
said.
Islanders in the South Atlantic are allowed to harvest about 50,000 of
the young birds a year for food, which is controversial, Post said. There's an
estimated 5 million breeding pairs, he added.
The birds resemble gulls in appearance and size, with brown to gray heads
and white undersides. They have webbed feet and dark, tubelike bills.
Since they spend their lives at sea, Post said, they are able to drink
saltwater, excreting excess salt through special glands in their heads.
Ned Brinkley
Cape Charles, VA
