Foraging by Northern Fulmars (Fulmaris glacialis) at a Nearshore, Anticyclonic Tidal Eddy in the Northern Bering Sea, Alaska

Abstract

-Northern Fulmars (Fulmaris 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.