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ST. JOHN'S, N.L. –
Seabird biologist Bill Montevecchi spent three decades studying murrelets as they are known locally. When studying the turrets, he has to watch what they eat: caplin.
At that time, he noticed a disturbing trend.
Since the collapse of the slot machine market in the early 1990s, they have become smaller and smaller – they are lighter and a little longer. They also breed later.
"Their condition is poorer and it has become progressively poorer in the last three decades," he said.
This had an effect on the turr chicks; Montevecchi said the chicks had also shown a deterioration of their condition over the last three decades.
"It's a sign that capelin are not doing better," he said.
"It's a sign of what's happening in the ocean, what's happening on the planet, and whoever does not care is not worried about the fisheries that govern our province's economy.
"And whoever would not be worried about a seabird – who is really a big marine animal who is an expert at extracting food from the ocean – when they are not doing well, that's something that really worries us because we are on the same planet and we are in the same circumstances.
"These effects of climate change – what birds provide, are essentially signals of radical changes in the ocean – and these dramatic changes in the ocean will affect the fishery. But the 70% of the planet's water, so when the climate of the ocean changes, the climate of the planet changes, are just signals. "
Montevecchi's research at Funk Island shows that the Caplin condition of chicks by turrets in adults was declining steadily from 1990 to 2017.
This resulted in a deterioration in the condition of the offspring, including a reduction in the weight and length of the wings. In addition, the adult turrets had to look further and work harder to catch the fish.
The guillemots of the parents doubled their foraging distance from the Funk Island colony in 2016 relative to the distances traveled in 2014, flying an average of 28.7 extra kilometers to find food.
However, turret populations on Funk Island are not decreasing.
Montevecchi attributes this contradiction to better regulation of turret hunting, a change in fishing techniques that allow birds to avoid drowning in gillnets, and stricter regulations that reduce the number of oiled birds.
"It's not just sun and roses," he said.
"For birds like guillemots, gannets and puffins, things look pretty good, but when you look at other species, like storm petrels, things do not look so good at all. But the population of these (other) birds is increasing, even if the supply of food is not very interesting and, in the long run, that does not mean that things will be great. "
Twitter: @juanitamercer_
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