New research from Japan published in the Ecological Society of America’s journal Ecology suggests that increasingly severe weather driven by climate change may push oceangoing seabirds to their limits.
New research from Japan published in the Ecological Society of America’s journal Ecology suggests that increasingly severe weather driven by climate change may push oceangoing seabirds to their limits.
In August 2019, Kozue Shiomi, a seabird biologist at Tohoku University, attached GPS bio-loggers to 14 adult streaked shearwaters (Calonectris leucomelas) from a nesting colony on Mikurajima, a small island near Tokyo, as part of a study on the species homing behavior.
In September of that same year, an exceptionally powerful storm, Typhoon Faxai, barreled into southeastern Japan, causing considerable physical damage to the mainland. But the typhoon, with windspeeds nearing 200 km/hr, also provided scientists with a rare glimpse into the capacity of seabirds to withstand extreme storm conditions – conditions that seabirds may increasingly be faced with under future climates.
Analysis of tracking data following the passage of Typhoon Faxai revealed that, while most of the tagged shearwaters appeared to be either unaffected by or had managed to circumvent the storm, one male had not been so lucky. Over the 11-hour period during which this shearwater bird was tracked, it completed five full circular loops of 50–80 km diameter each and was transported a total distance of 1,146 km.
Read more at Ecological Society of America
Photo Credit: Takashi_Yanagisawa via Pixabay
