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Pelagic Birds in the Gulf of Maine

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Pelagic Birds in the Gulf of Maine Pelagic Birds in the Gulf of Maine Davis W. Finch, William C. Russelland EdwardV. Thompson In view of the recent increase of interest in with CN Marine (Bar Harbor, Me. 04609) seab•rds,clearly indicatedby the numberof Toll-free numbers are 800 432 - 7344 (Maine) b•rd•ngtrips now beingconducted to offshore and 800 341 -7981 (northeastern U.S.). Reser- waters in the Northeast and elsewhere, it vations are importantduring the summer•f seems an appropriate time to review the automobilesare to be transported.The adult occurrenceand abundanceof pelagicspecies one-way fare in effectduring 1977 was $15, along what to date hasbeen ornithologically $9 off-season. the most studied oceanic route in the East. This During normal summer operation, the •s,of course,the "Bluenose"ferry transit in the "Bluenose" leaves Bar Harbor at 8 a.m. EDT Gulf of Maine between Bar Harbor, Maine and and steamsdown FrenchmanBay to EggRock Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.Since 1965 the authors bell buoy. At this point, she turns to course have made over 80 crossingson the "Blue- 115 ø which is maintained for about 77.5 nauti- nose". Although more than 75% of these cal miles. About five nautical miles SSEof the occurredduring the monthsfrom May through LurcherShoal buoy, the "Bluenose"turns to September,no seasonhas been neglected. course 095 ø for about 11 nautical miles at Th•s paper summarizesour data from these which point a slight adjustmentis made to transits and our notes on the field identification 088 ø. This course is maintained for about five of some23 speciesof pelagicbirds encountered. nautical miles when she rounds the Cape The "Bluenose",owned and operatedby Forchu bell and heads into Yarmouth Harbor Canadian National, has an overall lengthof arrivingat the dock at approximately2 p.m 346 feet and a grossweight of 6419 tons.Her EDT. After a layoverof 1¾2hours she leaves speedaverages 18.5 to 19 knotsin summer Yarmouth at 3:30 p.m. EDT (4:30 p.m. ADT) and 16.5 to 17 knots in winter. An observer and retracesher route, reachingBar Harborat positionedat the bow is approximately30 feet approximately9:30 p.m. ETD. Thusfor a brief above the sea surface and can survey a period around midsummer, the pelagic horizon of about 300 ø. The elevation extends portionsof the entire round trip are traversed ws•bilityto somedistance while often prevent- in daylight. •ng ventral views of nearby birdsflying low Infrequently,heavy seas require a course over the water. change.This normally takes the form of a more Accordingto the most recently adopted northerlycourse to a point just southof Murr schedulethe ferry makesthe 200-mile round Ledgesbelow Grand Manan then south to trip dailyfrom early June to theend of Septem- Cape Forchubell. The exactcourse varies w•th ber Thrice-weekly service is maintained the severity of the weather. On a very few throughoutOctober and Novemberand from occasions,weather has caused cancellation of lateApril through May, and during these periods the day's crossing. the terry leaves Bar Harbor at 8 a.m. ESI or The Gulf of Maine is a relatively closed EDT on Tuesdays,Thursdays and Saturdays body of water blocked at the mouth by and leaves Yarmouth at 9 a.m. AST or ADT on Georges and Browns Banks. Two narrow Mondays, Wednesdaysand Fridays.Winter channels provide the only accessfor deep serwcehas recentlybeen suspended.Since all water and as a consequencethe Gulf •s the ferry servicesin the Gulf of Maine are shielded both from the cold waters of the being reevaluated, persons planning the Labrador Current and the warm waters of the trip should verify the schedulebeforehand Gulf Stream.Heating and coolingare thusthe 140 American B•rds, March 1978 SRD NortheasternNorth America,showing "Bluenose" Ferry route. Map/S.R. Drennan. resultof local proces•s. Duringthe summera tember,this paper draws almost exclusively on rathersharp thermocline develops and surface our own records.Although we were, of course, waters warm to a maximum of 13 ø to 16øC. aware of manycrossings made by others,we During the warmestyears, numerouswarm- have not used these data as we feel our own water fish and invertebrates are found in the sufficeto givea clearpicture of relativeabund- Gulf and certainbirds, including perhaps the ance duringthe summerperiod. Further, it is very infrequent Cory's Shearwater,may be practically impossiblefor us to assessthe presentonly under these conditions.During records of others and to ascertain whether the fall, the thermocline is considerably specieswere identifiedcorrectly, a problem reduced owing to decreasedsurface warming especiallyacute with the large shearwaters, and, especially,the wind-inducedmixing of storm-petrels,phalaropes and jaegers, and it is the surface and colder water below. The rate at equally difficultto judge the care with which which this coolingtakes place may determine counts were taken. Nonetheless in a few cases the length of time certain pelagic species,for whereunquestionable records by othersadded example Greater Shearwater,Leach's Storm- significantlyto our understandingwe have Petreland RedPhalarope, remain in the Gulf. includedthem, citing observersby initials Current flow in the Gulf of Maine is gener- resolved at the end of the text. Status accounts ally counterclockwise.On the Nova Scotia for thisperiod are primarilya summaryof our side the collision of this current with the sub- data givingfrequency, maximum counts and marineextensions of DigbyNeck and adjacent average ones. underwater ridges produces pronounced Having taken many fewer trips duringthe upwelling which makesthis the richestarea periodOctober through May, we haveused all ornithologically in the Gulf of Maine. The information available for these months, course of the "Bluenose" takes her just south attemptingto verify identificationsand counts of the southernmost underwater ledge, and again citing observersfor recordsother Lurcher Shoal, about 11/2hours out of Yar- than our own. We have less confidence in our mouth, and large numbers of birds are status delineations for these months and have frequently found there. The other concentra- made extensive use of such relative terms as tion area, alsothe resultof upwelling,is the "common" and "rare", and noted maximum southwesternedge of Grand Manan Bank, counts. encountered about two hours out of Bar Our data are derived from 88 round trips Harbor. Seabirds tend to be less abundant over taken from 1965 through1977, their monthly the remainderof the crossing,their distribution distributionas follows:Jan. (4), Feb. (2), Mar dependenton the apparentlyunpredictable (3), Apr. (0), May (4), June(16), July(10), Aug presenceof planktonand fish. (26), Sept. (10), Oct. (2), Nov. (6), Dec. (5) Forthe four-monthperiod June through Sep- Sevenof the winter tripswere by others.Our Volume 32, Number 2 141 The "Bluenose"Ferry. Photo courtesy of CanadianNational; copyright reserved; made in Canada. counting technique was simple: standingin or when birds followed or paralleledthe ship the bow for essentiallythe entire crossing,we Jor long periods. We reel that the numeri- attempted to count every individual encoun- cal data are accurate to +10% for counts tered. In earlier yearsrunning totals were kept between 10 and 50, and to +30% for counts but since 1975 observations have been involvinghigher numbers of individuals.The recorded for each 30-minute period. The statusdata do, however,accurately reflect the status accounts which follow should not be relative abundanceof the pelagicspecies that construedas havinga specificscientific basis. occur in the Gulf of Maine as seen from the Althoughwe countedindividual birds as care- "Bluenose",and shouldgive the readera clear fully as possible,obvious problems neverthe- idea of what to expect, or not to expect, at a lessarose when largeflocks were encountered given time of year. ALBATROSSES: Diomedeidae Albatrossesare hugeseabirds with long,slender wings and largehooked bills. The two speciesrecorded in the westernNorth Atlantic are largelydark on the upperwing and tail and white elsewhere.In the unlikelyevent that an albatrossshould be seen,the observershould note the underwingpattern (extent and width of black border),bill color (black,yellow or other,and colorationof the dorsalridge if different),and head color (white or gray, and markings,if any, above and behindthe eye). Yellow-nosedAlbatross (Diomedea chlororhynchos) Status:Two recordsof singlebirds, July 12, 1968 (EVT)and Aug. 20, 1976 (DS). Field Identification:The identificationof a bird asan albatrosswould seemto be easybut a number of albatrossesreported from the "Bluenose"were almostcertainly Gannets (for a discussionof this problem,see that species)and we haveseen distant adult Great Black- backed Gulls misidentifiedas albatrosses.Even at a distance,albatrosses have brownishtones in the dark back, have longer,stouter bills, largelydark in youngBlack-broweds and in Yellow-nosedAlbatrosses of all ages,and appearvery high-sternedwhen afloat. We are, however,rather unfamiliar with albatrossidentification and referinterested readers to other sources(see for example,Warham, Bourneand Elliott).Regarding albatross distribution, it is indeedcurious that for yearsYellow-nosed has been the albatross of the westernNorth Atlan- 142 American Birds, March 1978 Yellow-nosedAlbatross (adult) 60 mileseast of OceanCity, Md., Feb. 1, 1975.Note black bill andnarrowness of dark bordersof underwing,particularly on the trailingedge. Photo/Richard A. Rowlett. Black-browedAlbatross (adult) in Antarcticwaters south of New Zealand,Dec.,
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