Dead Razorbills

The Razorbill (Alca torda) is a colonial seabird that only comes to land in order to breed. Or after it died. On February 16 2016, we noticed no fewer than 7 fresh Razorbill carcasses on just under 3 kilometers of tide line at the height of Praia Poço da Cruz and Areao (Aveiro, Portugal). I suspect a period of stormy weather that occurred here a few days ago took its toll and the birds affected were local wintering individuals that reside there not far offshore. I wonder what the situation is on other Portuguese beaches.

Another chopped up dolphin, @ Costa Nova, Portugal (November 13, 2015)

Striped dolphin Stenella coeruleoalba ?? Cause of death unknown. Reported to CRAMQ.

Torreira - Sao Jacinto beached bird and mammal transect (February 25, 2015)

Striped dolphin Stenella coeruleoalba # 1 No, a Common dolphin Delphinus delphis




Tail entangled?




Striped dolphin Stenella coeruleoalba #2 No, scientists are still trying to ID this one...




Tail cut off? Carcasses were reported to CRAMQ, who picked them up this morning for investigation. Unfortunate for the Greater Black-backed gulls which had found them first.




Yet another domesticated animal on the transect, a dog.

Finally!! A glass float! With original Japanese oysters attached to it!?

Torreira - Sao Jacinto beached bird and mammal… and REPTILE transect (November 12, 2014)

The first Leatherback sea turtle Dermochelys coriacea we found, also the first reptile species we recorded on the transect.





Below the second Leatherback, laying on his… leather back.








The head (rotated 180°), showing some teeth. I thought these were very friendly animals.






Throughout our walk we encountered very clear tide lines.




Coastal erosion at work. It wasn’t like this a month and a half ago.




Goose barnacles Lepadidae growing on a buoy.




We noticed an increase in the amount of washed up small plastic particles, including what seemed to be some industrial plastic pellets.




Near Sao Jacinto, the beach is now almost made up entirely from plastic litter.

Survey of beached birds and mammals: São Jacinto – Torreira, Portugal. March 27, 2014

British-ringed Atlantic Puffin

Yet unidentified dolphin

Picking up Puffins on the first beached bird and mammal survey between Sao Jacinto and Torreira

On March 14 2014, a survey of beached birds and mammals was conducted along a 10 km long transect between Sao Jacinto and Torreira, by Pedro Moreira and me. The transect included 5 km of closed off beach belonging to the Sao Jacinto reserve, who gave us permission for this survey. The idea was to get an impression of what species and their numbers had been washing up on the beach along the northwestern coastline of Portugal during the previous months. None of this 10 km of beach gets regularly cleaned, making it a very suitable length of coastline for this study.

Another motivation for this activity had been the reports of large numbers of dead seabirds that washed up on beaches in France and Spain, after the ‘wreck’ that occurred earlier in the year in the Bay of Biscay due to continuing bad weather conditions (See http://www.sott.net/article/274701-Update-Tens-of-thousands-of-dead-seabirds-have-now-washed-up-in-Bay-of-Biscay and http://www.timvannus.blogspot.nl/2014/03/dead-british-seabirds-are-finding-their.html).

 The 10 km transect we walked from Sao Jacinto to Torreira.

Results

Which of these birds died in the wreck that occurred in the beginning of the year remains difficult to determine, with the absence of earlier survey results. We suspect this had been the case with all of the puffins that were found. Even the few of those that we found on the recent tide lines showed signs these had been floating in the ocean for a while. All of the Lesser Black-backed Gulls had died recently and these were probably all local birds. Also the Common Guillemot and one or two Razorbills appeared a bit too fresh to have come all the way from the Bay of Biscay.

Beached Atlantic Puffins.

 

 Three Lesser Black-backed Gulls and two Razorbills.

 Great Northern Loon.

Unidentified Seahorse...

...and a coconut.