2014 Florida Volunteer Updates

As the North Atlantic right whales migrate to the South Georgia/Northern Florida coast each winter volunteers help watch for and capture critical details related to this endangered species. This information helps scientists track the fate of the species and acts as a first alert system to pilots in the shipping lanes to avoid accidental killings. This blog shares the findings, photos and other pertinent information gathered from the Palm Coast Sector Volunteer Team while helping to connect and communicate the many ways we can protect the right whales and sustain our wonderful ocean life.

Friday, February 12, 2010

It's Even Too Cold For The Birds

We are experiencing another cold snap so I piled on as many layers of clothing as I could and still have some mobility. The temperature at 41 degrees F aided by blustering winds and a steady rain made it feel like I was sitting out in a snow storm...and I was on my balcony vs clicker beach!

Ok, all whining aside, the main difference with todays watch was the lack of diving birds. You get used to the natural rhythm after watching a few weeks and this makes it easy to also notice when something is missing. Today it was the diving birds. I looked over a few of the other days watch notes and others have noticed the same thing. What happens in this world of whales and ocean life when it gets this cold? What other patterns change with the temperatures? Do the whales head further out? Do the fish that the diving birds feed on hide and huddle up somewhere to wait it out?

As I felt colder thinking about these things I was warmed by a small group of sea ducks that kept me company. I watched them awhile and took a few pictures as they seemed to be a different breed than I normally see and also tried to capture them and the mood of the day on video (link below).

I also had fun watching the small shore birds. They just sit on the water right near the break and then fly-hop over the wave just as it crashes and then repeat the action like they were doing it simply for the joy of it. It looked like fun!

While the sky brightened a bit by the time noon came around I was happy my shift was over. Does this make me a "whimpy whale watcher"!?! Yup!  No matter, next time I'll just need to dig out my "winter whale mittens." Whale on!




Click on this link to see New / More Bird Videos =)