Atlas9 min read
Anglesey: Kelp, Tides and Bird Islands off North Wales
Tidal races, seabird cliffs and reefs of tangle kelp — a guide to the Anglesey coast, Wales' great island corner of the Irish Sea, underwater and above.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
#seabirds
23 articles
Encyclopedia7 min read
Australasian Gannet (Morus serrator): Dive-Bomber of the Kelp Coast
Plunging from thirty metres at highway speed, the Australasian gannet runs the baitfish economies of southern kelp coasts. Meet Morus serrator, the takapu.
Dr. Theo Nakamura ·
Explore7 min read
Birdwatching the Kelp Coast: A Landlubber's Guide to Seabirds
You don't need fins to love a kelp forest. Here's how to read the seabirds that work its surface — murres, puffins, cormorants and gulls, all season long.
Tom Okafor ·
Encyclopedia10 min read
Common Murre (Uria aalge): The Flying Penguin of Cold Coasts
Meet the common murre, the foot-propelled pursuit diver of kelp-coast upwellings — a flying auk that hunts 100 metres down and raises chicks on bare cliffs.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Atlas9 min read
The Faroe Islands: Kelp in the Atlantic's Tidal Heart
Eighteen islands of basalt in one of the world's strongest tidal landscapes, wrapped in kelp. A guide to the Faroes' reefs, races, seabirds and cold-water diving.
Tom Okafor ·
Atlas9 min read
Gough Island: Kelp at the Edge of the World Heritage Map
A windswept volcanic island in the sub-Antarctic South Atlantic, ringed by giant kelp and breeding seabirds — and part of one of the most remote marine reserves on Earth.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Encyclopedia7 min read
Harlequin Duck (Histrionicus histrionicus): The Painted Diver of the Kelp Surf Zone
Meet the harlequin duck: slate-blue plumage, winter life in the surf zone, and summers on wild mountain rivers. Identification, ecology and where to look.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Encyclopedia8 min read
Humboldt Penguin (Spheniscus humboldti): The Penguin of the Kelp Coast
The Humboldt penguin breeds in guano caves on the desert coast of Chile and Peru, and fishes in one of the richest — and most changeable — seas on Earth.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Explore9 min read
Birdwatching Over Kelp: Seeing the Forest's Feathered Hunters from Shore
Kelp beds concentrate seabirds like nowhere else on the coast. Where to stand, what to bring, and how to identify the divers, dabblers and pirates of the kelp line.
Tom Okafor ·
Encyclopedia8 min read
Kelp Gull: The Southern Hemisphere's Coastal Generalist
The kelp gull is the default large gull of the southern oceans — an adaptable black-backed coastal bird from Cape Town to the Antarctic Peninsula. Full profile.
Tom Okafor ·
Encyclopedia7 min read
Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor): The Smallest Penguin of the Kelp Coasts
About a kilogram of slate-blue determination, the little penguin fishes southern Australia's kelp coasts by day and comes ashore by dark. Meet Eudyptula minor.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Encyclopedia9 min read
Northern Anchovy: The Small Fish at the Bottom of Everything
Northern anchovy (Engraulis mordax): the filter-feeding forage fish behind seabirds, salmon and sea lions all along the Pacific kelp coast.
Dr. Theo Nakamura ·
Encyclopedia8 min read
Pacific Sand Lance (Ammodytes personatus): The Buried Forage Fish of the Kelp Edge
Profile of the Pacific sand lance: a pencil-thin forage fish that buries itself in sand beside the kelp forest and feeds seabirds, salmon and whales. Facts and ecology.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Atlas8 min read
The Pribilof Islands: Kelp in the Middle of the Bering Sea
Four volcanic islands on the Bering Sea shelf — half the world's northern fur seals, millions of seabirds, sea ice to the doorstep, and kelp along the rims.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Encyclopedia7 min read
Rhinoceros Auklet (Cerorhinca monocerata): The Horn-Billed Seabird of Kelp-Coast Colonies
The rhinoceros auklet: the puffin's burrowing cousin with a bill 'horn', night-time colony returns, and fish-laden commutes over kelp-rich shelf water.
Tom Okafor ·
Encyclopedia7 min read
Black Oystercatcher: Sentinel of the Rocky Shore
The black oystercatcher lives its whole life on kelp-fringed rock, hammering limpets and mussels. Ecology, bill lore, breeding and its role as an indicator.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Encyclopedia8 min read
Common Eider (Somateria mollissima): The Sea Duck of Northern Kelp Coasts
Meet the common eider: the northern sea duck that dives for mussels in the kelp shallows, crushes shells whole and gave its down to a centuries-old harvest.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Encyclopedia7 min read
Marbled Murrelet: The Seabird That Nests in Trees
The marbled murrelet feeds in kelp-fringed seas and nests miles inland on old-growth limbs. The ecology of a seabird split between two vanishing worlds.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Field Notes7 min read
Field Notes: Counting the Cormorant Roost at First Light
Before the drones fly, Tidewright's monitoring crews count the cormorant roost by hand at dawn. Here's why roost counts still beat satellites for kelp-forest health.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Atlas8 min read
Crozet Islands: Subantarctic Kelp Kingdoms of the Indian Ocean
Giant kelp beds ring the Crozet Islands beneath some of the greatest penguin and albatross colonies on Earth — a coastal atlas guide to France's remote subantarctic.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Encyclopedia8 min read
Pelagic Cormorant: The Slim Diver of the Kelp Line
Learn to identify the pelagic cormorant (Urile pelagicus), the smallest North Pacific cormorant, and how it hunts small fish along kelp forest edges.
Tom Okafor ·
Encyclopedia8 min read
Pigeon Guillemot: The Red-Footed Diver of the Kelp Coast
Meet the pigeon guillemot: the black-and-white auk with scarlet feet that nests in shoreline crevices and hunts sculpins through kelp beds.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Encyclopedia8 min read
Tufted Puffin: The Kelp Coast's Most Photogenic Fisher
Meet the tufted puffin: golden head-plumes, burrow colonies and deep kelp-coast dives. Where to see it, what it eats, and why its southern range is shrinking.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·