An intrepid BirdLife International
team are back from their voyage to discover the nesting grounds of Beck's
Petrel, a small seabird facing an uncertain future.
With over 200 kg of chum
specially designed to lure the Critically Endangered Beck’s Petrel Pseudobulweria becki, a couple of gas
operated net canons for harmless capture and a keen crew of four from BirdLife
International and the Wildlife Conservation Society, the PNG Explorer motored
out of Kavieng, bound for Cape St George at the southern end of remote New
Ireland in Papua New Guinea. Even without “spontaneous chumming” thanks to calm
seas, curious Red-footed Boobies Sula
sula, Black Noddies Anous minutus and
other pantropical seabirds were soon escorting the ship on its 400 km trek
south.
The first Beck’s Petrels were
soon sighted. Quietly, but with excitement and nervous anticipation, the team
set a chum slick, but a few casual swoops and a shake of a tail feather later,
the birds’ inspection of this marine buffet was done. Nevertheless, fears that
the strong El Niño conditions affecting the Pacific may have caused the petrels
to move elsewhere were allayed; and with greater numbers known to be in the
vicinity of the Cape, this subdued start was merely a teaser.
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