Bird deaths puzzle Unalaska(Alaska)

Anchorage Daily News ^ | 01 Sep 2006 | ALEX deMARBAN and CRAIG MEDRED

[Marius3188]

SHEARWATERS: Captain said hail of creatures hit his boat for up to 30 minutes.

More than 1,600 sea bird carcasses have washed onto Unalaska shores over the last two days in a mysterious die-off that scientists are scrambling to understand.

Some say they may have died of hunger. Others say they're smashing into boats.

Maybe it's both, some scientists said.

Several hundred black, gull-like shearwaters died after flying into a crabbing boat that steamed through the early morning darkness in Unalaska Bay on Wednesday morning, said Forrest Bowers, a fisheries biologist for the state Department of Fish and Game in Unalaska.

The captain of the boat walked into Bowers' office that day to report that a hail of shearwaters struck his boat for up to 30 minutes, Bowers said. The crew pitched the dead and dying birds overboard, the captain said, according to Bowers.

Bowers would not release the captain's name, saying he requested anonymity.

The captain reported that other boats were in the area and may also have been bombarded by the sea birds, Bowers said.

[silverleaf]

Calling Alfed Hitchcock!

[jsh3180]

[blam]

Dauphin Island, Alabama has a term for this...they call it (I think) 'fall-out' (or something close to that). It occurs when the birds are migrating across the Gulf Of Mexico and when they see Dauphin Island (land) they are so tired that they quit flying and just fall out of the sky...many die from the fall.

I saw similar years ago while on diesel subs. We would surface and birds lost at sea would crash onto the surfaces of the sub exhausted. Sad.

On the other hand, no matter how far you go out to sea, you can always see Albatross birds...they can stay at sea for years without any land.

[JamesP81]

Bush's fault

[Vaquero]

Geeze interesing!

I hope the Discovery channel got the video on 'Deadliest Catch'

[boomop1]

The break left break right lead guy fell asleep while flying.

[RightWhale]

Birds are dying by the dozen this morning here. Hunting season. Moose are supposedly on the move, but none through the yard this morning yet.

[ThomasThomas]

You can take a ferry to Unalaska if the maps are right. It is out in the Bering Sea Just a little west of Hawaii and a whole bunch north. Starting from Key West to Unalaska is only 5400 miles. Staring and ending from my house it is 12,000 miles. Great way to see the USA and Canada. Maybe next year.

[RightWhale]

anybody get a popup?

[LucyT]

Yes, as soon as I clicked on the title.

[goldfinch]

That is one of my 'dream' vacations. I took the Alaska ferry from Bellingham to Skagway a number of years ago. It was a great trip. The neat thing about taking the ferry instead of a cruise ship is that you can stay as long as you want whereever you want. The other neat thing is that you travel with local people, so you learn more than you would have travelling with other tourists. It is inexpensive, too, unless you take a car. The bad thing is that cabin space is limited. It is probably too late to book a cabin for next summer on a ferry leaving from Bellingham...but you can camp on the deck for free...which is what I did, not being one to plan too far ahead.

The ferry that runs from Kodiak to Dutch Harbor runs twice a month. I have always thought it would be great to take one ferry out and take another back...but I haven't been able to get enough time to do it. And I am not sure that I would want to spend two weeks on one island. I just checked the price. It is $284 one way...and half price if you are over 65. For now, it stays on my list of dream vacations. Maybe next year....