Alaska (AK) BIO Sensing Δ 13th of January 2014 Ω 5:11 AM

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~ Alaska Science Center ~ Shorebird voyagers ~ sense for Ξ	~ sense for Ξ ~ sense for Ξ ~ sense for Ξ	~ sense for Ξ ~ sense for Ξ ~ sense for Ξ
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«BIO Sensing of U.S.	Θ	Θ
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~ Alaska Science Center

»Alaska Science Center

SENSED

To: paula_winningham@usgs.gov

Dear Mrs Paula Winningham,

Referring to "the project Processing of addtional datasets to Nearshore Data Management Portal" http://alaska.usgs.gov/purchase/index.html
I'd like to get more information about the project.

Kind regards,

Secretary

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~ Shorebird voyagers

Shorebird voyagers

Tens of thousands of bar-tailed godwits jorney
ξ globe-spanning members of the sandpiper family
ξ began leaving New Zealand March on the first leg of their annual 18,000-mile journey to Alaska and back
ξ a group of Anchorage biologists and bird enthusiasts plan to track them every bit of the way

Tracking
ξ nine of the godwits have been surgically fitted with data transmitters,
ξ each about the size and weight of a single AA battery,
ξ which send signals to orbiting satellites that bounce them back to earth.
ξ eventually the information reaches the Alaska Science Center,
ξ maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey in Anchorage, which shares it online

Following in the Internet
ξ each godwit has an ID and mug photo posted on the USGS site
ξ computer users can track their progress through the Internet as the shorebirds wing their way to a northern staging area in Southeast Asia,
ξ approximately three-fifths of the way to Alaska

Example
ξ On March 22,2008 a female bar-tailed godwit named D-4 and a male named D-8 became the first of the tagged birds to touch down in China
ξ at a spot about 6,300 miles northwest of New Zealand
ξ the trip took them 7 1/2 days and they never stopped to rest
ξ USGS biologist Lee Tibbitts is tracking the godwits as a project assistant
ξ five of the tagged birds had begun migrating north, and four still remained in New Zealand
ξ one of those yet to leave, a female godwit named D-5, appeared to be heading in the wrong direction, having relocated from North Island to South Island
ξ she's going the opposite direction

Google Earth Interface
ξ since the USGS Web site comes equipped with a "Google Earth" interface,
ξ citizen scientists can actually glimpse the precise rice paddy or tide pool bordering the Yellow Sea
ξ where some of the godwits are now taking a breather

Next Phase in migration
ξ in about a month, they'll begin a 4,500-mile flight east -- the second leg of their journey --
ξ to breeding grounds in Western Alaska, where the godwits summer along the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta

International Research
ξ the research is all part of the international Pacific Shorebird Migration Project
ξ it will try to identify global threats to shorebirds
ξ from climate change to habitat destruction to the spread of infectious disease
ξ 2008 the project is also tracking the migratory flights of 15 bar-tailed godwits that winter in Australia and breed in Siberia,
ξ as well as three other shorebird species -- the bristle-thighed curlew, the long-billed curlew and the Hudsonian godwit
ξ bar-tailed godwits, in particular, deserve attention, since their numbers in Western Alaska have dropped sharply in the past 20 years
ξ from about 150,000 individuals in the early 1980s to 90,000 in 2007, according to USGS biologist Bob Gill, the shorebird project director

Migrating back to New Zealand
ξ as recently as five years ago, scientists didn't know exactly how the godwits managed to get from Alaska to New Zealand in late summer
ξ thanks to the transmitters, they now have evidence that shows the godwits do so by flying nonstop
ξ in a grueling -- no eating, no drinking -- 7,200-mile journey straight down the middle of the Pacific Ocean
ξ it's a trip that lasts eight to 10 days.
ξ the longest documented nonstop flight by any bird that propels itself by flapping its wings
ξ unlike soaring birds, such as condors or albatrosses that ride thermals for long distances with their wings held still,
ξ godwits lose altitude when they fall into a glide, so they keep flapping at an average speed of about 35 mph
ξ nor can they land in the ocean to feed or rest, as seabirds do, since they aren't designed to fish and don't float very well

Rationale migrating straight ove ocean
ξ Why don't they simply rest on islands as they migrate? They don't have to.
ξ summering in the invertebrate-rich tide flats of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta,
ξ the bar-tailed godwits manage to double their weight by gorging themselves on worms and clams
ξ weather patterns help their journey south as well
ξ with storms out of the west consistently raking the North Pacific,
ξ godwits have learned to depart Alaska on the back-side of a low-pressure system,
ξ catching the counter-clockwise winds that catapult them south by southeast at speeds between 60-80 mph.
ξ around Hawaii, they catch the clockwise flow of the front side of a late-summer high-pressure system,
ξ which redirects them south by southwest toward New Zealand
ξ by the time they arrive in the South Seas, they've consumed all their fat and some of their muscle as well
ξ they arrive looking like emaciated rock stars, weighing half of what they did to begin with
ξ by avoiding the conventional shorebird flyways that parallel coastlines,
ξ they also avoid predators and infectious diseases that accompany continental wildlife populations
ξ instead of investing energy in maintaining an immune system, they're able to funnel those calories toward flying
ξ the more direct route south also makes the flight distance shorter to New Zealand, which, similar to Western Alaska,
ξ is an ideal home for shorebirds, with few predators and invertebrate-rich tidelands

Threads returning to Alaska
ξ the return trip north to Alaska in spring -- more than 10,800 miles -- is longer and more circuitous due to the prevailing winds
ξ the godwits first have to follow the southeast trades to the equator,
ξ then struggle through possible West Pacific cyclones on their way to the Yellow Sea
ξ it's there that biologists have observed a cluster of potential threats -- from bird harvesting to habitat destruction --
ξ that may be endangering the bar-tailed godwit
ξ they also worry about the threat that poultry farms there could pose in transmitting the deadly H5N1 strain of avian flu to migratory birds
ξ less threatening forms of avian flu have been detected in bar-tailed godwits

Funding
ξ the shorebird project is partly funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation

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