Foraging by northern fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis) at a nearshore, anticyclonic tidal eddy in the northern Bering Sea, Alaska

Colonial Waterbirds
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Abstract

Northern Fulmars (Fulmar glacialis) fed on ice-associated macrofauna (probably gammarid amphipods) and pinniped offal concentrated by convergent flow at an eddy boundary near Northwest Cape on St. Lawrence Island, Alaska. The eddy was anticyclonic, measured approximately 1.5 by 2.25 km, and was generated by nearshore streaming induced by the cape’s topography during lesser flood stage of the tidal cycle. These favorable feeding conditions persisted only for a few hours on a single day (22 May 1987). Like man-assisted scavenging, this observation suggests that natural feeding by fulmars can be highly opportunistic and time-dependent.

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Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Foraging by northern fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis) at a nearshore, anticyclonic tidal eddy in the northern Bering Sea, Alaska
Series title Colonial Waterbirds
DOI 10.2307/1521017
Volume 11
Year Published 1988
Language English
Publisher The Waterbird Society
Contributing office(s) Alaska Science Center
Description 4 p.
First page 318
Last page 321
Country United States
State Alaska
Other Geospatial Bering Sea, Northwest Cape, St. Lawrence Island
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