NOAA Stellwagen Bank NMS

Ortiz, Rice, Williams, and Sherwin3, are all within a few hundred miles of each other south of the Azores. Ortiz was the farthest west and the first to catch on, but as the system moved east and reached the rest of them, they all stopped foraging and started riding the tailwinds

No new tag loss in week 19! This is turning into one of most successful tag longevity turnouts! At this point last year we only had 1 tag still transmitting (of 17). From 2013 to 2024, we tagged 145 shearwaters. Only 25 of them (17%) made it to December or later. #noaa #birds

We now have three birds actively migrating. Eckersley picked up speed and kept heading south. We learned from partners at Tristan Da Cunha that most breeders are nesting, meaning we mainly tagged non-breeders this year, or they are just late bloomers. #stellwagenbank #seabirds

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At week 17, the birds are on the move! In the first 16 weeks, five of our ten birds were within 45 km of where we tagged them. But now the remaining 6 birds in Chatham have finally left, taking advantage of the strong NW winds. #stellwagenbank #seabirds #shearwaterresearch

Volgenau_XII spent 7 weeks in the Celtic sea. Rice continued to spend time between Long Island, Block Island, the Great South Channel, Stellwagen Bank, and George’s Bank. Williams has moved SE. Eckersley started migrating Nov. 1st. In two days she has traveled 1130 miles! #birds

Seabird tagging update! We’ve had an interesting trajectory compared to our previous fall seasons. We reached a new record of all tags transmitting (17 weeks!). Martinez, the first migrant of the year, was the last to transmit, ending close to Africa #satellitetracking #seabirds

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Week 9: Volgenau_XII is in the Celtic Sea. Williams is moving east. Yastrzemski just headed to Georges Bank. The rest all continued this year’s trend of spending time in the Great South Channel. #stellwagenbank #seabirds #satellitetracking #redsox #shearwaterresearch #data

Week 8 update from our tagged birds. Volgenau_XII moved up into the Celtic Sea last week and has been foraging. Williams looked like she was starting to migrate late last week, and the rest are still off the cape. #stellwagenbank #seabirds #gulfofmaine #redsox #science #birds

@dhitchcox @chrisstIawrence @dhitchcox - you can follow us at @NOAASBNMS - we've been posting weekly updates including a recent one about hurricane erin!

@chrisstIawrence Yeah, I’m shocked by how slow it was. I want to see if the folks tagging shearwaters saw an exodus before the hurricane passed or if they’re just not around there this year.

We looked closely for Scopoli’s Shearwaters on the Cashes Ledge (Maine) trip on Saturday, but couldn’t find any. Here’s a fun composite of a Cory’s banking, showing how dark (or light) p10 can look as the sun hits it.

Curious what our tagged shearwaters were up to during Hurricane Erin? Below is an animation of their tracks overlaid with wind patterns! Credit: Liam Waters/NOAA SBNMS #stellwagenbank #seabirds #satellitetracking #gulfofmaine #redsox #noaa #shearwaterresearch #science

Shearwater Week 6 Update! "Volgenau XII" has crossed the Atlantic and is a little over 200 miles off the coast of Spain! This journey of 2,761 miles took this bird about 7 days. Most of our other tagged shearwaters spent their time between Chatham, MA and the Great South Channel.

Shearwater Week 4 Update! "Ted Williams" has decided to make a home run around the Gulf of Maine! Stay tuned as we follow up where they go during Hurricane Erin, and then as they start to make their fall migration!  #stellwagenbank #birdtagging  #seabirds #boston #capecod #redsox

RARE SIGHTING ALERT! Donna & James Piraino had a surprise of a lifetime when they spotted the Orca Old Thom with dolphins in @NOAASBNMS. We are so thankful they shared this footage with us - it truly captures the joy of such a moment! #stellwagenbank #orca #killerwhale #whale

It's #WhaleWednesday and our favorite celebrity humpback Salt has been visiting @NOAASBNMS ! It's her 50th year sighted on Stellwagen Bank, and we love any time that she gives a visit to whale watch passengers! 📸: Salt, Laura Howes/BHCC #ILoveMySanctuary #RecreateResponsibly

Come join us this Sunday, August 3rd, 1-4 pm, at the Scituate Maritime and Irish Mossing Museum for a tour of Salt, the life-sized, inflatable, Humpback whale! 🐳

Our life-sized inflatable whale Salt, is making her first voyage to sea! July 19th from 10am - 5pm, @NOAASBNMS and @34islandsboston are bringing Salt, to Spectacle Island. Ferry service: bostonharborislands.org/ferryschedule/  #ilovemysanctuary  #boston  #boats #whales

Happy #WhaleWednesday! 🐋 When a whale lifts its head out of the water vertically like this, it is called “spyhopping.” The whale may even turn up to 180° before ducking back under the water. Learn more about whale behaviors here: stellwagen.noaa.gov/visit/whalewat…

Come celebrate #WorldOceanDay with us @NEAQ! We'll be on the front plaza with Salt, the life-sized, inflatable, Humpback whale, along with other hands-on activities and information! Stop by from 9 am to 6 pm, on Sunday, June 8th! neaq.org/celebrate-worl…