Escaping the oligotrophic gyre? The year-round movements, foraging behaviour and habitat preferences of Murphy’s petrels ...
The South Pacific Gyre is the world’s largest expanse of oligotrophic ocean and supports communities of endemic gadfly petrels Pterodroma spp, yet little is known about their foraging ecology in this nutrient-poor environment. We tracked Murphy’s petrels Pterodroma ultima with geolocators from Hende...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Inter-Research Science Publishing
2017
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://dx.doi.org/10.17863/cam.11128 https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/265256 |
| Summary: | The South Pacific Gyre is the world’s largest expanse of oligotrophic ocean and supports communities of endemic gadfly petrels Pterodroma spp, yet little is known about their foraging ecology in this nutrient-poor environment. We tracked Murphy’s petrels Pterodroma ultima with geolocators from Henderson Island, Pitcairn Islands, for two consecutive years (2011 - 2013). During pre-laying exodus, petrels travelled south and southwest of the colony, with males travelling further than females to more productive waters. During incubation, birds foraged at the southern and eastern edges of the Gyre, with some travelling over 4,800 km from the colony, the greatest recorded foraging range of any breeding seabird. During non-breeding, the petrels migrated to the Subarctic Gyre in the North Pacific to forage in cool, mesotrophic waters. Habitat models revealed that birds do not have clear preferences for oceanographic (such as fronts or eddies) or topographic features (seamounts), generally favouring deep and ... |
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