Feeding Frenzy /  by Michael Johns

The 2019 seabird field season on the Farallones wrapped up at the beginning of August, and I’ve been off the island and back home for a few weeks now. Going through photos from the season, this particular shot of a humpback whale lunge feeding through a giant bait ball of northern anchovy stands out as my favorite. Anchovy was an important component of the seabird diet this year, and comprised most of the prey items being delivered to awaiting chicks for common murres, rhinoceros auklets, and western gulls. We were seeing many mixed species feeding aggregations near the island by the end of July, where whales, sea lions, and birds were all working cooperatively to take advantage of the bounty of fish.

Catching Fish /  by Michael Johns

Sometimes a net works best when catching fish. In this case, seabird interns on Southeast Farallon Island are extracting a rhinoceros auklet from a mist net, in order to identify and measure fish the bird is bringing back to its chick. Seabirds sample the marine environment for us, and provide insights into the types of fish available around the island and within the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. This particular auklet was carrying a bill load of 2 northern anchovy, a common prey item for this location.

Rent /  by Michael Johns

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Our days are numbered in Fairbanks. Coming up this fall, Casey and I are heading south to the Emerald City. While we’re both looking forward to being close to the water again, it will be hard to leave our little cabin in the woods. Yes, it regularly stays below -20F in the winter, but you can’t beat the rent prices in Fairbanks. The above graph shows median rent for a 1 bedroom apartment in Seattle vs. Fairbanks, with the dashed line showing how much we currently pay for our cabin.

Family of Ancient Murrelet /  by Michael Johns

Every season on Southeast Farallon Island has its share of surprises. From the residency of a northern gannet in 2012, to the invasion of hundreds of fork-tailed storm-petrels in 2017. This year it’s a family group of ancient murrelets, a species of wing-propelled diving seabirds that breeds well north of the Farallones.

Seabirds generally seek out remote predator-free islands as a refuge to lay eggs and rear chicks. This strategy ties individuals to their respective breeding colonies, limiting the maximum distance parents can travel to search for provisions for their chicks. Possibly as a means to overcome this limitation, ancient murrelets have adopted a different strategy. Rather than bringing food back to their chicks, they bring their chicks out to the food. A mere 1-3 days after hatching, persistent calls from devoted parents compel their chicks (up to 2 in a clutch) to take a plunge into the cold North Pacific ocean and paddle out to sea. These chicks, nothing more than buoyant balls of down with legs, follow their parents into the productive waters of the Pacific, slowly growing off a diet of zooplankton until they are big enough to fly and forage on their own.

What makes this sighting of a family group unique and exciting for the Farallones, is the fact that ancient murrelets predominately breed hundreds of kilometers away on the Aleutian Islands and throughout Southeast Alaska. A sighting of a chick off the island, which was likely no more than 25 days old, means it must have hatched somewhere relatively nearby - a noteworthy observation considering Washington State is the furthest south they’ve ever been confirmed to breed.

One Of Many Thousands /  by Michael Johns

A single common murre perched above tens of thousands more. Although their nesting behavior and overall appearance resembles that of a penguin, these wing-propelled diving seabirds are actually more closely related to puffins. And unlike penguins, these birds have retained their ability to fly…but just barely.