Hi All,
A friend has just drawn my attention to an interesting article on a NZ
government website regarding the coincidence of la Nina and starving
seabirds. It says that the calm warm waters brought in by la Nina don't
allow the water columns to mix, thus preventing the passage of small
baitfish to the surface.
http://www.doc.govt.nz/about-doc/news/media-releases/unusual-weather-conditions-causing-mass-deaths-among-seabirds/
My question is to the seabird people off the east coast of Australia.
Are you seeing any of this event on the east coast? I recall a mass
death of shearwaters during our spring, but is it more widespread?
I am wondering how the local breeding terns will have fared. Crested
Terns are due to arrive back on the Sunshine Coast from the breeding
grounds at the end of January. Now that I think about it, I recall
checking out the Cook Island breeding site (mouth of the Tweed River,
NSW/Qld border) at the end of November and being puzzled that the
Crested Terns appeared not to have started breeding yet. I had also
noted a still-high presence of Crested Terns on the coast at Noosa in
November. However that number dropped dramatically in our December
survey, and I assumed that all was well with the breeding season, if
somewhat late.
I'm right out of my knowledge zone here, but fascinated, and wondering
if there are subscribers with anything to contribute to the discussion.
Cheers,
Jill
--
Jill Dening
Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
26° 51' 41"S 152° 56' 00"E
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