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Duncan Murrell - A Whale of a Time

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Duncan Murrell - A Whale of a Time

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  • They obviously viewed me as a playmate or someone to tease and as soon as they saw me they started their pranks like this one darting towards me at high speed and then veering away as soon as I flinched. Their most annoying and clever prank was to keep picking up the anchor stone that my kayak was secured to on the ledge, swim out to deeper water and drop it so that my kayak would start drifting away and I had to keep swimming after it. I don’t know how they figured out how to do that; maybe it was something that they had already learnt to do from other kayakers, but they certainly appeared to relish my immediate reaction every time they did it. Eventually I had to wedge the rock firmly into a crack in the ledge to stop their merry prank.
    Kayaking- Gulf-of-California36.jpg
  • It was amazing to get in the water with the sea lions and witness their graceful speed and agility. They were curious about me as soon as I appeared. This is a popular destination for swimming with sea lions so that are very habituated to the presence of people in the water with them. It was mostly younger juveniles that I could see, with the occasional large bull, which although large seemed quite small in comparison with the Steller sea lions in Alaska.
    Kayaking- Gulf-of-California35.jpg
  • The Steller sea lions of Alaska have entertained me many times and provided company during bad weather when there were no other animals around. They were always inquisitive, if not a bit wary of me, and would often swim beneath my kayak and look up at me with their big bulging eyes. Sometimes they would even engage me in a race to show off their speed on the surface where they can leap like dolphins.<br />
Among pinnipeds, it is only inferior in size to the walrus and elephant seals. The males are bigger than the females and grow to a length of about 2.82-3.25 metres long, with an average of 3m. The males have much wider chests, necks and general body structure and weigh 450-1.120 kg with an average of 544 kg. Males are further distinguished from females by broader, higher foreheads, flatter snouts, and darker, slightly tuftier hair around their large necks, giving them a maned appearance. Indeed, their Latin name translates roughly as “maned one with the broad forehead”.<br />
The range of the Steller sea lion extends from the Kuril Islands and the Sea of Okhotsk in Russia to the Gulf of Alaska in the north, and south to Ano Nuevo Island off central California. The global Steller sea lion population has traditionally been divided into an eastern and western stock roughly through the Gulf of Alaska. They have attracted considerable attention in recent decades due to significant, unexplained declines in their numbers over a large portion of their range in Alaska. While the population of the eastern and Asian stocks appear stable, the population of the western stock, particularly along the Aleutian Islands, was estimated to have fallen by 70-80% since the 1970s. One suspected cause of their precipitous decline is overfishing of Alaska Pollock, herring and other fish stocks in the Gulf of Alaska. In 1997 the western stock was listed as threatened but in 2013 they were removed from the U.S Endangered Species List after a major population recovery.
    Alaska-Steller-sealion7.jpg
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  • One of my first amazing encounters on the trip was this large pod of long-beaked common dolphins. I was paddling quite close to the precipitous rocky shoreline and was just skirting a small bay when I could suddenly hear what sounded like a white water river rushing towards me. I looked around me to locate the source of the noise and saw that the flat calm sea was erupting with a myriad of splashes and leaping dolphins ploughing towards me. Within seconds the water around me was energised by hundreds of dolphins dashing in different directions. Everything was happening so quickly that I didn’t know where to aim my camera next so I had to deploy the shoot from the hip mode. They were evidently herding fish around the bay, so I just sat in the middle of the vortex of feeding dolphins and soaked up the visual energy and excitement.
    Kayaking- Gulf-of-California30.jpg
  • If I paddled past a sea lion haul-out I always attracted a tightly-packed group of noisy sea lions like a magnet: they would extend their heads as high as they could to get a better look at me. They always stayed bunched together rather like a shoal of fish that employs the "one in the middle" defensive group strategy that relies on strength of numbers to increase an individuals chance of survival. They were very vociferous but always kept a safe distance, unless they dived underwater to get a closer look at me: I could see them circling beneath me and looking up at me with their big bulging eyes.
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  • Two tourists swimming with a whale shark (Rhincodon typus), Honda Bay, Palawan, the Philppines.
    whale-shark-people-palawanDMurrellSE...jpg
  • Encountering orcas was a much rarer event than being with the humpback whales in Southeast Alaska so I always viewed it a special treat and a bonus for the summer. I always felt like I had to shift up into a much higher gear with the faster swimming orcas, and I usually knew that something out of the ordinary was going to happen. Most of pods of orcas I encountered were small transient pods specializing in hunting for marine mammals. On this occasion I was able to paddle many miles with a very large pod of at least 30 individuals that spanned the width of Chatham Strait. It was a beautiful, sunny day and the sea was calm without a puff of wind, which always makes it a bit easier to keep up with them. They appeared to be hunting for salmon by corralling them judging from the way their speed and direction changed periodically. It’s fascinating listening to the extensive chatter of orcas; they are much more vocal than the humpbacks and can produce a great range of sounds from clicks, squeals and whistles to what sounds like someone knocking on a door. The most memorable thing that happened on this day involved some young calves, which like the humpback calves were very inquisitive about me. I had just stopped for a rest and was observing the behavior of some of the orcas swimming past. Suddenly two calves popped their shiny black heads out of the water right next to the cockpit of my kayak! They were chattering away at me with their squealing and whistling, and after greeting them with a very surprised “hello’, my next instinct was to pat them on the head like puppies, but they disappeared before I had the chance to do that. <br />
I never ever felt threatened by orcas, even when the big bulls would sometimes swim straight towards me, and they would twist sharply at the last minute just before their tall dorsal fins could slice into me. I’m quite sure that they were only ever inquisitive about me.
    Southeast-Alaska- orca4.jpg
  • Pod of orcas (Orcinus orca) cruising in Chatham Strait, Southeast Alaska, USA.<br />
<br />
Encountering orcas was a much rarer event than being with the whales in Southeast Alaska so I always viewed it a special treat and a bonus for the summer. I always felt like I had to shift up into a much higher gear with the faster swimming orcas, and I usually knew that something out of the ordinary was going to happen. Most of pods of orcas I encountered were small transient pods specializing in hunting for marine mammals. On this occasion I was able to paddle many miles with a very large pod of at least 30 individuals that spanned the width of Chatham Strait. It was a beautiful, sunny day and the sea was calm without a puff of wind, which always makes it a bit easier to keep up with them. They appeared to be hunting for salmon by corralling them judging from the way their speed and direction changed periodically. It’s fascinating listening to the extensive chatter of orcas; they are much more vocal than the humpbacks and can produce a great range of sounds from clicks, squeals and whistles to what sounds like someone knocking on a door. The most memorable thing that happened on this day involved some young calves, which like the humpback calves were very inquisitive about me. I had just stopped for a rest and was observing the behavior of some of the orcas swimming past. Suddenly two calves popped their shiny black heads out of the water right next to the cockpit of my kayak! They were chattering away at me with their squealing and whistling, and after greeting them with a very surprised “hello’, my next instinct was to pat them on the head like puppies, but they disappeared before I had the chance to do that. <br />
I never ever felt threatened by orcas, even when the big bulls would sometimes swim straight towards me, and they would twist sharply at the last minute just before their tall dorsal fins could slice into me. I’m quite sure that they were only ever inquisitive about me.
    Humpback whales-12.tif
  • Juvenile whale shark (Rhincodon typus) swimming below snorkeller, Honda Bay, Palawan, the Philppines
    whale-shark-people-palawan_MG_2222.jpg
  • Oceanic manta ray ( Manta birostris ), Honda Bay, Palawan, the Philippines Snorkeller swimming with an oceanic manta ray (manta birostris)
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  • Oceanic manta ray ( Manta birostris ), Honda Bay, Palawan, the Philippines Snorkeller swimming with an oceanic manta ray (manta birostris)
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  • Over-under photo of a whale shark (Rhincodon typus) swimming beneath a tour banca boat, Honda Bay, Palawan, the Philppines
    whale-shark-people-palawan_MG_9026.jpg
  • A sweeping panoramic view at the southern end of the island looking towards a chain of small skerries, that I paddled out to explore. I was camped on the other side of the rocks in the foreground on a grassy ledge overlooking a rocky cove. The cliffs on either side of the last fragment of the island were quite high and very precipitous. This is where I had my next dramatic viewing of basking sharks, because they were swimming very close to the base of the cliff so I was able to look directly down on them, and get a very good impression of their massive size. Once again it was one of those wildlife encounters that is so vividly etched in my memory forever. From my lofty viewpoint I could watch them swimming towards the island and then follow the base of the cliffs as they were feeding.
    New-Scotland34-Edit.jpg
  • A sweeping panoramic view at the southern end of the island looking towards a chain of small skerries, that I paddled out to explore. I was camped on the other side of the rocks in the foreground on a grassy ledge overlooking a rocky cove. The cliffs on either side of the last fragment of the island were quite high and very precipitous. This is where I had my next dramatic viewing of basking sharks, because they were swimming very close to the base of the cliff so I was able to look directly down on them, and get a very good impression of their massive size. Once again it was one of those wildlife encounters that is so vividly etched in my memory forever. From my lofty viewpoint I could watch them swimming towards the island and then follow the base of the cliffs as they were feeding.
    Kayaking-West-Coast-Scotland22.jpg
  • I was awestruck when I was close enough to watch one cruise past me just beneath the surface. My first impression was that I was looking at a very prehistoric creature that could have been swimming alongside aquatic dinosaurs. It was astonishing to watch how the appearance of their head changed so quickly and dramatically as soon as they opened their jaws to commence feeding on the plankton soup; I can best describe it as a large umbrella popping open. I wasn’t in a position to climb out of my kayak to swim with them so I had to attempt to photograph them from the surface. I had brought a Canon G5 compact camera with a wide-angle extension lens, inside an Ikelite housing to take underwater photos. I had to try to position myself directly in front of them but not obstructing their passage, but that was difficult to do because when they are feeding they don’t just swim in a straight line but more in circles. I had to be very patient to get some reasonably good shots, and of course I was only holding the camera and housing over the side so I had to anticipate and estimate when they were in the frame. It took quite a lot of trial and error before I was successful. The visibility was very low because the water was so thick with plankton, which attracted 3 or 3 sharks as far as I can remember. I was so transfixed by these amazing but strange looking creatures that I had to drag myself away from them because I still had a long paddle ahead of me to get to Mull and Lunga, but I was quite sure that it wasn’t my last encounter with basking sharks on the trip, and fortunately I was right about that. It has recently been confirmed by data collected by the Wildlife Trusts that the place where I had my first encounter with basking sharks, Gunna Sound, between Coll and Tiree is a hotspot for them with numbers up to 4 times higher than recorded elsewhere in the UK.
    Kayaking-West-Coast-Scotland12.jpg
  • Oceanic manta ray ( Manta birostris ), Honda Bay, Palawan, the Philippines Snorkeller swimming with an oceanic manta ray (manta birostris)
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  • Tourist diving down to a whale shark (Rhincodon typus), Honda Bay, Palawan, the Philppines.
    whale-shark-people-palawanDMurrellSE...jpg
  • Humpback whales probably raise their flukes up high like this when sounding if they are going to do a steep vertical dive down to deeper water, but less so when they are just going to be swimming at shallower depths.<br />
This photo was used by Athena International in the late 1980s for posters and cards.
    Alaska-humpback-whale-sounding4.jpg
  • This was an unforgettable wild encounter! The sea was very cold so I had to haul myself back into my kayak to warm up, with my legs dangling over the side and my flippers slapping the surface like a stranded fish. Moments later I was surprised to see another kayaker paddling towards me; It was an American called Corrie who told me that he had just made the long sea crossing from Isla San Jose. It was great to be joined by another kayaker and even greater when I discovered that he had a wetsuit! There was no holding back now so I returned to the underwater circus. I discovered that there was one juvenile sea lion that was bolder than the others. At first it was trying to bite my mask and then it was nipping my chest as if it was trying to suckle from me; I think that the black neoprene wetsuit had transformed me into a marine mammal! This apparent attempt at bonding with me was taken to the next level of hilarity when all of a sudden I was aware of its flippers being wrapped around my body from behind and then feeling the little clown clinging tightly to my back! I reached behind me to feel it and it was very smooth, soft and spongy, making it conform to the shape of my back like an orthopaedic back-support. I continued swimming along with this unexpected diving accessory still firmly clamped to my back like an air cylinder. It eventually released me and disappeared momentarily; then Corrie exclaimed, “look at your kayak!” and to my amazement I watched it hauling itself onto the back of my kayak! It promptly settled down for a snooze on the most comfortable and exclusive bed available. Corrie climbed into the cockpit of my kayak to take some photos of me with my new friend, or should I say foster child, as photographic evidence was surely required. Corrie tried to evict the stowaway with my paddle, but the little rascal nipped at it and promptly slid down inside the cockpit to confirm its status as a stowaway but it was eventually evicted after much protest.
    Kayaking- Gulf-of-California38.jpg
  • It was a beautiful place to camp and I spent several days clambering over the offshore rocks and inshore san dunes. There were a lot of shy grey seals that hauled out on the rocks that I tried to get close enough to photograph without disturbing them. Not surprisingly the sea was very cold for swimming but I had brought a wetsuit with me for snorkelling. There was plenty of driftwood to collect on the beaches so I had some spectacular fires on the beach at night to cook my dinner under the glittering canopy of stars.
    Kayaking-West-Coast-Scotland4.jpg
  • Tourists and guide swimming with whale shark (Rhincodon typus), Honda Bay, Palawan, the Philppines.
    whale-shark-people-palawan_MG_6487.jpg
  • It was a beautiful place to camp and I spent several days clambering over the offshore rocks and inshore san dunes. There were a lot of shy grey seals that hauled out on the rocks that I tried to get close enough to photograph without disturbing them. Not surprisingly the sea was very cold for swimming but I had brought a wetsuit with me for snorkelling. There was plenty of driftwood to collect on the beaches so I had some spectacular fires on the beach at night to cook my dinner under the glittering canopy of stars.
    New-Scotland7-Edit-2.jpg
  • Steller sea lions are very vocal and a sea lion haulout is one of the most cacophonous “resting’ places you will encounter in the animal kingdom. They alternate between relative calm to absolute pandemonium if one sea lion decides to climb over its neighbour; the protest rapidly activates the entire mass of beached blubber. I often took advantage of the chaos by sneaking unnoticed amongst them and then remaining motionless to enjoy the entertainment at close quarters. I usually had to crawl through pools of stagnant water but I became accustomed to the sensory delights of an assembly of sea lions that assails just about every sense.<br />
Adult males establish territories and aggressively defend them. Steller sea lions gather on haulouts or rookeries, and regularly travel great distances (up to 250 miles) to find food. They can travel much further and juvenile sea lions have been known to travel over 1,000 miles. They are opportunistic feeders and eat a wide range of fish including herring, Pollock, salmon, cod and rockfish as well as squid and shrimp. I have even observed them catching seagulls on the surface. When males are defending their territories on the rookery, they may go without eating for over a month. On this individual you can clearly see the long, stiff whiskers that are used to navigate underwater and to assist in the location of their prey; Also the external ear flap, which points downward to prevent the entry of water when they are swimming.<br />
I witnessed many amusing incidents at the haulouts. The juvenile males could often be seen to be hanging around in “mischievous” gangs that delighted in antagonizing the pompous old bulls. On one occasion I witnessed some young bulls leaping out of the water to nip a large bull precariously perched on a narrow ledge above them. He was unable to defend himself and eventually he fell into the water with a resounding splash.
    wildlife-2.tif
  • Spinetail devil rays ( Mobula mobular ) engaged in courtship, Honda Bay, Palawan, the Philippines
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  • Juvenile whale shark (Rhincodon typus), with tour guides and tourist, Honda Bay, Palawan, the Philppines.
    whale-shark-people-palawanDMurrellSE...jpg
  • Orcas are so sleek and hydrodynamic, and so consummately evolved for speed and distance. I always marvelled at how they slide through the water with such effortless ease, barely creating a ripple: even the surface tension of the water appears to stretch over their head like a second skin. An orca's dermis (skin) is smooth: the outer layer continually and rapidly renews itself, and the old skin sloughs off. The increased skin cell turnover increases swimming efficiency by creating a smooth body surface which reduces drag.
    Southeast-Alaska- orca5.jpg
  • In Alaska, single pups are born between May and mid-July. Young pups are able to swim almost immediately after birth. They normally remain with their mothers about one month, after which they are weaned and separate from their mother. At that time over half their body weight may consist of fat, providing them a head start on self-sufficiency.While harbor seals will often voluntarily swim close to humans on beaches or in small boats, seals resting on land or ice are wary of people and will rush into the water if approached too closely. If disturbed too often, seals have been known to abandon favorite haul-out sites or their pups. I was able to approach this sleeping seal pup close enough to touch it. They are usually much more alert than sea lions because there is less distracting noise and commotion. I have always been extremely careful not to disturb any of the animals that I have stalked.
    Alaska-harbour-seal3.jpg
  • The Steller sea lions of Alaska have entertained me many times and provided company during bad weather when there were no other animals around. They were always inquisitive, if not a bit wary of me, and would often swim beneath my kayak and look up at me with their big bulging eyes. Sometimes they would even engage me in a race to show off their speed on the surface where they can leap like dolphins.<br />
Among pinnipeds, it is only inferior in size to the walrus and elephant seals. The males are bigger than the females and grow to a length of about 2.82-3.25 metres long, with an average of 3m. The males have much wider chests, necks and general body structure and weigh 450-1.120 kg with an average of 544 kg. Males are further distinguished from females by broader, higher foreheads, flatter snouts, and darker, slightly tuftier hair around their large necks, giving them a maned appearance. Indeed, their Latin name translates roughly as “maned one with the broad forehead”.<br />
The range of the Steller sea lion extends from the Kuril Islands and the Sea of Okhotsk in Russia to the Gulf of Alaska in the north, and south to Ano Nuevo Island off central California. The global Steller sea lion population has traditionally been divided into an eastern and western stock roughly through the Gulf of Alaska. They have attracted considerable attention in recent decades due to significant, unexplained declines in their numbers over a large portion of their range in Alaska. While the population of the eastern and Asian stocks appear stable, the population of the western stock, particularly along the Aleutian Islands, was estimated to have fallen by 70-80% since the 1970s. One suspected cause of their precipitous decline is overfishing of Alaska Pollock, herring and other fish stocks in the Gulf of Alaska. In 1997 the western stock was listed as threatened but in 2013 they were removed from the U.S Endangered Species List after a major population recovery.
    wildlife.tif
  • Cook from the tour banca boat assisting a tourist watching a whale shark (Rhincodon typus) with a shoal of rainbow runner (Elagatis bipinnulata), Honda Bay, Palawan, the Philppines.
    whale-shark-people-palawanDMurrellSE...jpg
  • Pair of magnificent frigate birds (Fregata magnificens) soaring in the thermals, Sea of Cortez and the Baja Peninsula, Mexico.<br />
I fell in love with the frigate birds and watched them endlessly soaring above me. They are true masters of effortless flight like the albatross. I was fortunate enough to examine one at close quarters, or I should say unfortunate enough because one of its wings was broken, meaning that it had no chance of survival. I was amazed at how slight and fragile their wings are, and in fact their entire body, hence how easily broken they are; presumably when they are engaged in an aerial dogfight with other marauding birds. They never swim because their long wings, adapted for gliding, and tiny feet render them unable to take off from water; all their food is snatched from the surface or stolen from other birds. The male is all black with a red throat pouch, which is inflated like a balloon for display. The female has a white breast and dark head. They have a scissor-like tail that is often folded in a point.
    Kayaking- Gulf-of-California58.jpg
  • On my return journey from Isla Catalina to Isla Monserrat I had a very unexpected encounter. I was making great headway with a good following wind when suddenly a very tall tail fin appeared alongside me; my first thought was that it was the dorsal fin of a swordfish. I looked down into the water beneath me and its identity was immediately confirmed when I saw what looked like a giant checkerboard beneath me. Only one large sea creature has markings like that: it was a whale shark that had apparently come to the surface to investigate me. It wasn’t the right season for whale sharks so it was completely unexpected. As it was my first ever encounter with the largest fish in the ocean I implored it to swim with me for a while but it promptly dived out of view.
    Kayaking- Gulf-of-California87.jpg
  • The west coast of Scotland is one of the best places in the world, along with my home region of the SW of England, for seeing basking sharks, the second largest fish in the world. They can grow up to 10m (33ft) long. They are an open water shark, but move closer to shore in summer to feed on the plankton bloom. They are usually solitary, but occasionally gather in aggregations of 100 or more where there are large concentrations of plankton, usually where there are tidal fronts where different water masses meet. They are filter feeders, and in 1 hour they can filter 1.5 million litres (330,000 gallons) of water through their gills. They are highly migratory, but long-distance tracking of individuals only began recently, and it is still unknown whether they migrate between lower and higher latitudes, or between deep and shallow water. Their livers contain a large proportion of oil typical of deepwater sharks, which may indicate that they spend some time in deep water. Very little is known about their breeding. They probably mature late and reproduce slowly, making them particularly vulnerable to overfishing, especially as fisheries catch more females than males. They were once fished commercially on a small scale around Scotland for their huge livers, which contain oils formerly used in various industries, with a peak recorded catch of 250 sharks in 1947. But in response to dwindling numbers the basking shark has been fully protected since 1998. <br />
Because they swim at the surface, these magnificent sharks are easily harmed, either deliberately or accidentally. Currently, potential threats include bycatch in fishing nets, and disturbance or impact by jet-skis, speedboats and other vessels. Globally its conservation status is currently listed as vulnerable.
    Kayaking-West-Coast-Scotland13.jpg
  • Humpback whales generally have heavy encrustations of barnacles on their throats, pectoral fins and flukes. Whale barnacles are barnacles belonging to the family Coronulidae. Whale barnacles attach themselves to the bodies of baleen whales during the barnacles's free-swimming larval stage. Though often described as parasites, the relationship is an example of obligate commensalism, as the barnacles neither harm, nor benefit, their host. But they are parasitised by whale lice that are actually amphipods: tiny crustaceans that feed off dead skin and pieces of flesh from their host. In normal situations, population of these parasites seem to stay in check, thereby not hurting their large hosts. Cetacean cyamid species are specific to different species of cetaceans and the one that lives on humpbacks is Cyamus boopis.
    Alaska-humpbackwhale-bubblenet32.jpg
  • I often watched them feeding as aerial pirates, chasing other birds and forcing them to drop or disgorge their food. They forage in the air, swooping close to the water to take things from or near the surface, making very little contact with the surface. It never swims and forages in the same way over land, taking prey from beaches without landing. It feeds mainly on small fish, also squid, jellyfish and crustaceans. It also takes hatchling turtles, young terns, other birds and their eggs.
    Kayaking- Gulf-of-California59.jpg