Great Shearwater

Great Shearwater (Puffinus gravis)

Great Shearwater

 The Great Shearwater is a common pelagic bird of the Bay of Fundy in summer.  It can be seen from our shores or following any  fishing boat.  It is found here from May or June through October.  It is an amazing world traveller.

The Great Shearwater breeds on islands in the southern Atlantic Ocean in the southern hemisphere; Nightingale Island, Inaccessible Island, Tristan da Cunha and Gough Islands.  It is a member of the Procellariidae family (Shearwaters and Petrels).  It breeds in the southern hemisphere summer and then moves north to spend summer in the northern hemisphere.  It is a phenomenal flyer coming up the west coast of the Atlantic in our spring, flying eventually across the Atlantic Ocean and moving south again in our fall down the west coast of Europe and Africa.  It has long narrow wings which make it a good flier.  When we see it around our waters it is often flying close to the water on stiff wings.  It can get its lift off the air moving across the waves.  It is interesting to watch.

Great Shearwater

The Great Shearwater is one of four shearwaters found in the North Atlantic.  We can also see Sooty Shearwaters, Manx Shearwaters and Cory's Shearwaters.  The Manx is not common and the Cory's is rare.  I am not sure why the Great Shearwater is so named because the Cory's is larger (Great - 46 cm/18 in with a wingspan of 112 cm/44 in; Cory's - 46 cm/18 in with a wingspan of 117 cm/46 in).

Great Shearwater

The Great Shearwater builds its nest in burrows in earth or among rocks where it lays one white egg which is incubated for 55 days.  This is the only time the species comes to land.  The rest of the year it spends at sea.  It lands on the water to rest.  It has some difficulty taking off from the water and needs a running start, usually pattering along with its feet as seen in the photo above.  That is one of the many interesting sounds we hear from our pelagic birding boat trips.  Great Shearwaters feed mainly on fish and squid.  They have learned that fishing boats often dump fish parts overboard so often follow boats feeding on offal.

The Great Shearwater is dark brown above and white below.  Its mantle (back) appears scaly brown and gray.  It has a U-shaped rump patch.  Its head pattern is unique and helps with identification.  Its dark cap extends to just below the eyes and is set off with a white collar.  It has a long thin dark bill with a hook on the end.  The underparts are white.  It has variable dark markings on the underwing which also help in identification.  See the photo below.

Great Shearwater Showing Mottled Underwing

  Great Shearwaters are seen as friendly pelagic birds.  They are one of the most common birds seen from bird-watching boats off Grand Manan in season.  Because they readily seek offal and handouts from boats they often come in close, good for viewing and photography.  Even though they are listed as basically silent birds, they do emit a whining sound when competing for food.   Great Shearwaters have a unique method of self-defence.  They eject a foul-smelling oil from their nostrils when scared.  I am pleased I have never experienced this behaviour!

Great Shearwater

Ocean Sunfish

Ocean Sunfish Mola mola 

Ocean Sunfish with Great Shearwater

On July 7 a group of 35 naturalists were treated to a good viewing of an Ocean Sunfish (Mola mola) while on a long boat trip off Grand Manan to the Prong area between Grand Manan, NB and Nova Scotia.  The Mola mola is a slow-moving creature so we had a good view and photo opportunity.  Shown above is what it looked like as it moved along slowly at the surface.  There were many seabirds present and the photo shows a Great Shearwater.

Ocean Sunfish (Mola mola)

The Mola mola is a very large pelagic bony fish which inhabits all the world oceans except the Arctic and Antarctic Oceans.  It is a member of the Molidae family which contains the world's largest bony fishes.  There are several species of Molas in this family.  The Molas are prehistoric creatures being around since 45 million years ago.  They are harmless, slow-moving creatures which occasionally occur in our waters.  The Molidae contains fishes which weigh from 247 to 1000 kg or more.  Some rays and sharks can be larger but they are cartilaginous fishes.  

Ocean Sunfish (Mola mola)

The Ocean Sunfish occupies a unique place in the ocean ecosystem.  It drifts around slowly looking for jelly fish, its main diet.  Its top speed is 3.2 km/hour.  Its name, 'mola', is derived from the word for millstone and describes its peculiar shape.  It looks like a fish without a tail; a fish that has only a head.  In German it is called a 'swimming head'.  It is flattened dorsoventrally and its dorsal and anal fins have evolved into large paddles which it uses to slowly move along.  It kind of looks like a lollipop with 2 fins on the lower edges.  It moves through the water by slowly undulating back and forth propelling itself along with the 'paddles'.  

Ocean Sunfish (Mola mola)

The Mola can get very large, 10 ft by 14 feet.  Because of its large size it does not have many predators except orcas, sharks and sea lions.  It is silvery in colour and is covered with tough, leathery, sandpaper-like skin.  The skin is composed of millions of minuscule bony plates each with a tiny spine.  It has large eyes and an open mouth which gives it a weird expression.  It cannot close its mouth and its teeth are fused into a beak-like structure.  Its only mammal-like bones are in the dense bony spine.  The other bones are cartilaginous.  This is an advantage for weight reduction while maintaining structural integrity.  Its intestinal walls are thick in order to resist the stings and abrasions from its food.  Its 'tail fin' is not actually derived from a tail at all but has evolved from a fusion of the trailing edges of its dorsal and anal fins.  It is called a 'clavus' and is used for steering.  

Ocean Sunfish (Mola mola)

The dorsal fin which is frequently out of the water looks much like that of a shark.  It can be distinguished by the motion of being waved in and out of the water as it propels the fish along.  The dorsal fin of a shark would be cutting straight through the water.  See the photo above.

The Ocean Sunfish eats mainly jelly fish but also small fish, zooplankton and algae.  It dives to a depth of 500 ft to feed and then returns to the surface to warm itself after being in the cold ocean depths.  That is how its gets its name, 'sunfish'.  Its skin can be covered with parasites and it often has commensal fish feeding off these parasites.  The Sunfishes sometimes breech in an attempt to rid themselves of these parasites with the force of the heavy splash.  The female lays 300 million eggs and the young are only millimetres in size when they hatch.  The young travel in schools but become loners when they reach adulthood.

Ocean Sunfish (Mola mola)

The Mola mola has a very large eye which can be seen in the photo above.  They are curious creatures and often approach people.  It seemed to be enjoying watching us as we watched it.

The populations of Molas are vulnerable to human activity.  Many get caught in gill nets and other fishing gear.  They are especially vulnerable to the garbage in our oceans.  Many suffocate on plastic bags which they may mistake for jellyfish.  They also consume other ocean trash like so many other species.  

We must clean up our oceans in order to protect vital ocean ecosystems! 

Atlantic Puffin

Atlantic Puffins in our Coastal Waters

Atlantic Puffin

We are fortunate to have Atlantic Puffins (Fratercula arctica) living on our coastal shores.  Their normal breeding grounds are off Iceland, Greenland, northern Labrador, northern Europe and Atlantic Canada.  They are an iconic species that is well known to most people.  They bring many tourists to our area.

Atlantic Puffin With Bill Full of Fish [D. Ingersoll Photo]

The Atlantic Puffin is a happy-looking, clown-faced bird.  It is a member of the Alcid family.  It lives on the open ocean for most of the year and comes to land in spring and summer to breed and raise its young.  It prefers rocky ledges and islands.  It nests in burrows or among and under rocks on these islands.  It builds its nest from grass, feathers, seaweed and leaves.  It lays a single white egg sometimes spotted with brown or lavender.  Incubation ranges from 39 to 45 days and is shared by both adults.  

The adult puffin stands about 32 cm (12.5 in) tall.  It is a round, heavy bodied bird that walks well on land.  It has a large head and is noted for its colourful face and bill.  In breeding plumage it is distinctively black and white with black on the top of head, collar, back and tail.  The face and complete breast are stark white.  The feet and legs are bright orange red.  The bill is large, flattened laterally and shows red, yellow and blue plates.  The corners of the mouth (gape) are yellow orange.  The eye is ornamented with a clown-like triangle of red colour.  Both male and female look alike.  The non-breeding plumage is subdued with black or gray on the face and the bill loses most of its brilliant colours.  The young have a grayish black face and a much smaller gray bill which may show some muted colour.  

The puffins are strong fliers and fly back and forth to sea in search of fish to feed the young.  See the photo above which shows an adult with a good supply of probably herring to feed its young.  Anatomically they have a series of backward-facing barbs on their tongue and hard palate which help them hold many fish at once.  They forage by diving and swimming under water with their wings and strong feet and legs.  Puffins are mostly silent but do vocalize on the breeding grounds with deep moans and growls.  

Atlantic Puffin Young

The Atlantic Puffin is the provincial bird of Newfoundland and Labrador.  On a visit to Bay Bulls, NL, last summer I saw about 100 puffins swimming in the bay.  

Atlantic Puffin

The scientific name for puffins, Fratercula, means friar or little brother.  Presumably that is because of their black and white 'dress' and their waddling walk which would remind one of a friar or a small child.  It is certainly fun to watch them.  We are noted here in New Brunswick for our colony on Machias Seal Island.  On a visit there I watched many of these birds coming and going while feeding their young, or just standing around apparently socializing on the rocks.  This colony attracts many tourists every year and is strictly controlled so no harm is brought to the birds while the tourists enjoy watching the activity.  

Atlantic Puffin

Because of their weight and shape the puffin has to work hard to fly.  It looks somewhat like a flying football.  Compare them, for example, to a gull or a shearwater which have long pointed wings and stream-lined bodies.  Flight for them would be much easier.  The puffin is an interesting adaptation between flight in the air and under water.  It has done that successfully.  According to IBirdPro, they flap their wings 300 to 400 times a minute to maintain flight in the air.  Amazing!

Atlantic Puffin

If you have never seen this species,  you should arrange a trip to Machias Seal Island to watch them.  They are one of New Brunswick's natural heritages.

Great Cormorant

Great Cormorant Nesting Site 

Great Cormorants

Recently I visited a nesting colony of Great Cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo) off Twillingate, NL.  They had taken over a large rocky 'island' off the mouth of Twillingate's large harbour.  The island was about 300 metres long and 50 metres wide, was completely rocky and had steep sides.  All birds had to land on the island at their particular claimed site with very little chance of walking around.  The roughness of the craggy rocks made multiple nesting areas.  There were about 80 to 100 cormorants on the island and many more were in the air around it.

The island was mainly taken over by the Great Cormorants.  No Double-crested Cormorants, no murres, no gannets were seen.  The only other species present were a few Herring Gulls and perhaps one Great black-backed Gull.  

Great Cormorants

Some cormorants were sitting on their nests.  Many were standing around possibly socializing or protecting their mates.  The photo above shows a Herring Gull also present.  The nests were made of sticks and a depression in the rocks was brought up to level and made safe with the sticks.  The nests are lined with seaweed or other refuse (garbage, like plastic).  It looked like these birds are careful nest builders.  They lay 3 to 5 pale blue or green eggs and both the male and female incubate them for 28 to 31 days.

Great Cormorants

The Great Cormorant is our largest cormorant, being 94 cm (36 in) long compared to our other cormorant species, the Double-crested Cormorant, which is 81 cm (32 in) long.  It is black with a white throat patch, yellow skin around its beak and a white flank patch.  The Double-crested does not have these white patches and has orange skin around its beak.  The young Great Cormorant is brownish with a white belly and the young Double-crested is brownish all over with no white belly.  It takes the Great Cormorant three years to get its adult plumage.  The Great Cormorant is mostly silent but deep groans can be heard around the nesting colonies.  

Great Cormorants

The Great Cormorant breeds only in maritime habitats in eastern Canada and Maine.  Nesting colonies are found around the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Newfoundland and south to Maine, on rocky islands and cliffs.  They move south in winter along bays and seacoasts to North and South Carolina.  

The Great Cormorant pursues its main diet of fish underwater, using its powerful feet to propel itself. It also eats crustaceans.  These birds are very sociable and are sometimes found in huge colonies.  This is one of the species trained by Japanese fishermen to help them fish.  An interesting fact about Great Cormorants is that they sometimes swallow pebbles to add weight to their bodies so they can dive deeper after food.  An interesting and obviously trainable species.