Santa Cruz Update, 01 Aug. 2007

Hi there,

It’s been a quiet week here on the Northern Channel Islands. Limuw has been visiting the nest on a regular basis as has been seen on the webcam. We have tracked Limuw off the nest too. Kim and I were on kayaks on Sunday and spotted him just to the west of Prisoners Harbor. He flew off and landed a few times. His flights looked perfect, his landings, well… there’s room for improvement. But it’s good to see him exploring away from the nest. Even when he’s off the nest he is still close to it based on radio-tracking, GPS data, and observations. We also did some tracking for eagles along the north shore from the Zodiac and spotted K-10 perched in a good fishing location above Chinese Harbor.

We spent a few days trapping, but, still no success. We did get a photo of an eagle (A-55) at the trap site before we started trapping, so we had high hopes for trapping. We are getting more ravens at the trap site and we’ve seen two eagles investigating the site too. So, we will keep up the trapping efforts. We think it’s possible A-55 was the visitor to Limuw’s nest a couple weeks ago.

While on the Zodiac we also saw a large basking shark washed up at Tinkers Cove (one cove east of Pelican Harbor). It was caught in some netting and rope. We checked it out and it was pretty fresh. There were a few gulls and ravens picking at it and it is possible the eagles might scavenge on it, but we have not witnessed them scavenging on it. We also had a bunch of Humboldt squid washed up on the beaches last week. There were quite a few ravens and gulls scavenging on those. There was an interesting article about the squid in the science section of the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/31/science/31squi.html?_r=1&oref=slogin).

The last of the seasonal field techs, Kim, is spending her last few days on the island before moving on to other adventures. We had a great field crew this season and we thank them all for all of their hard work, dedication, and senses of humor.

All for now,
Jessica


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=42...790487802&hl=en

A short video I took from the kayak of Limuw flying.



One of the spots where Limuw was perched. He's the dark spot on the top of the gray snag in the center left of the photo.



Dave took this shot from the zodiac of a few of us checking on the nest. Limuw and one of the parents can be seen in the nest in the distance.



Here's K-10 (Limuw's papa) perched above one of his favorite fishing spots.



Here's one of the remote digital camera photos of A-55 at the trap site.



Here's a photo of me at the mouth of the basking shark. Dave is in the Zodiac in the background.



And here's Kim taking photos of the shark.

Thanks for a wonderful report and pictures, Jessica! Great video of Limuw flying too....especially considering it was taken from a kayak! Good thing the water was calm, huh?

Too bad about the basking shark. They're rare to begin with....to lose one like that is very sad. At least they're providing food for many birds on the island.

Great update Jessica! I love the pictures, and especially the video of Limuw. He is definitely a good flyer.
That shark is huge! I didn't realize there were sharks that big in the channel. I'll try and remember that when I'm diving or swimming there!
Happy trails and many thanks to Kim. I'll always remember the two of you and the wonderful work you did on banding day.
Thanks for the great update!

No need to worry about a basking shark, Sara. They're filter feeders that sieve small animals from the water. As the basking shark swims with its mouth open, masses of water filled with prey flow through its mouth. The prey includes plankton, baby fish, and fish eggs. After closing its mouth, the shark uses gill rakers that filter the nourishment from the water. Gill rakers are bristly structures (the thousands of bristles are about 4 inches or 10 cm long) in the shark's mouth that trap the small organisms which the shark then swallows. The water is expelled through the shark's 5 pairs of gill slits. The shark can process over 1500 gallons (6000 liters) of water each hour.

What a great update and lots of pix .... wonderful to see the eagles and their environs..... you know how we all live vicariously through your adventures!
Tell Kim 'Happy Trails' and that we wish her well!

Fantastic photos.... and so sad about the basking shark. Actually Ive never heard of it! From Jann's description it sounds more like a whale, but cold blooded.

Thanks again CREW!

Thank you, Jessica. Great video and photos---enjoyed all of them and interesting to see A-55. Not happy news about the basking shark.

Thanks to Kim for her hard work--and good luck on her next venture.

Good update and photos. I assume a basking shark is unusual. My husband caught a 5' squid from our fishing boat two weeks ago and according to an article they are encroaching on territory unusual for them which is the central coast. So happy to see Limuw getting stronger although his landings have to improve

Jeanette

Thanks for the info on the basking shark Jann. It is so sad watching what man does to wildlife.

Terrific update, Jessica. Thank you! Loved the video of A63 flying and all the pictures. I was so surprised at the size of the shark. Reading your narrative, I was thinking it was probably going to be about six or seven feet. When I saw the picture, I was amazed at its size! What a shame that it got caught up in the netting and ropes. :-(

All the best to you, Kim, on your new adventures!

Thank you for this wonderful update Jessica. That Shark, WOW!! HUGE!! But how sad that it had to die in such a terriblel way
Great pictures and thanks for the information that our visitor to the nest may have been A-55.
Happy Trails to Kim, and thank you for all you have done!!

Thank you Crew You have done an incredible job keeping us informed and sending great pictures.

Thank you Jessica and crew for your great update, video and photos. You have all been wonderful keeping us up-to-date on the island activities and I appreciate all the hard work you have done to keep us eagleholics happy.

Another great eagle update. Thanks so much for everything IWS!!!

Jessica, where did those steps come from??? Don't remember seeing steps anywhere except the hiking trail... wonderful pictures and too bad about the basking shark, so sad and such a preventable death...