The South Georgian (Wilson's) Storm-Petrel Oceanites [oceanicus] oceanicus.
Key Question: Are these "stormies" also among the Oceanites that reach Madeira, the Canary Islands, offshore Algarve (Portugal), and the Scilly Islands (UK)?
These images were taken for a long-term research project and are being shared here on behalf of the ‘Tubenoses Project’ (with my co-author Vincent Bretagnolle). I am also pleased to share them with my longtime friend Bob Flood, who is studying the identity of the Oceanites storm petrels in the Atlantic. While these images were taken for scientific purposes, I am delighted to showcase some of them here.
I captured these South Georgian Oceanites in some of the bays of South Georgia Island, located in the South Atlantic, in early April, from a small boat during a voyage across the Southern Atlantic. Since chumming is not allowed in South Georgian waters, I simply had to locate a feeding patch of the birds and then direct the zodiac to observe their behavior in relation to the wind, while maintaining a safe distance from the feeding spot.
One of the behaviors I was most eager to photograph was the diving of these Oceanites storm petrels, and I succeeded!
They run on the water and then dive to feed on the hidden oceanic phytoplankton and zooplankton, sometimes diving up to 10-20 cm below the surface. In most dives, however, they only partially submerge, keeping their wings and tail above the water, as shown in the included series of photos (Photos 1-6). After resurfacing from a dive, they often make a higher jump above the surface, as if scanning for the next feeding spot. When in a feeding frenzy, a bird could dive up to six times in quick succession.
Additionally, I photographed two fresh juveniles, recently fledged birds, in the last set of images (Photos 21-23). They appeared to be mimicking the behavior of the adults, following in their footsteps. Determining the fledgling period of the South Georgian Oceanites in early April was another goal of mine, as there is limited information available on the basic breeding schedule of these oceanic birds.
Enjoy...
*For those interested, we are planning an expedition to remote oceanic islands across the Atlantic, to be known as the ‘Chumming Odyssey’, focusing on extreme pelagic birds and marine mammals of the Southern Ocean. We are also planning a combined trip to the Madeira and Canary Islands that will focus on endemics and will include many pelagic days for seabirds (click here – for a provisional plan). Full information will be published on our site.
Photo credit: Tubenoses Project © Hadoram Shirihai
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