Photos from the field season 2010

All my albums in Picasa are finally updated with fresh photos from field season 2010. You can check them out here.

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Forskningsdagene

Forskningsdagene is a popular scientific event arranged once a year in Norway. The idea is that institutions are presenting their research for interested public. I think this is a great idea, since the public is often funding our research. Only problem with the event is that the "big names" are not having time to talk to the mortals. The task is often given for younger people. Well, on the other hand it's great fun for us and maybe we are as able to show scallops for kids as any experienced researcher...

This was my second year with Forskningsdagene. My input for popular science this year was to take part for a cruise to Senjahopen with the University's research vessel Johan Ruud. This was also my first time, and probably the last for a long time, as a cruise leader. We went to show marine organisms for school kids on Senja. The science was not that interesting after all, but they found it incredibly entertaining when a sea cucumber was "pissing" on their pants...

Tomorrow we will anchor the boat to the harbour by Stortorget. The show starts at 11 o'clock. Come to check out where the sea cucumber pisses...

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No Health-Care for a Beaten Bird

In nature unexpected events follow each other. Many times observing nature is possible only, when you manage to forget observing yourself. Patience is the number one gift of a nature observer.

Guillemots seem to be a bird-world equivalent to people from India. The huge density of breeding colonies forces the birds to give an impression of compliant sitting next to each other, but real life in the colonies is often unlike the impression. Fights do occur. Fighting starts with slight pecking and sometimes develops into a serious attempt of murder. Most serious matches are solved in the air and finally end up into the ocean, where the weaker party is trying to escape by diving, flying, swimming and splashing from the murderous rage of the strong.

Sometimes Brünnich’s guillemots are bleeding after fighting, but I have never before seen any serious damage due to these fights. When counting birds in vicinity of tens of thousands of guillemots, probability of seeing rare occasions is higher. This combatant lost his fight and came to look for refuge from us, while swarming glaucous gulls were waiting to attack the beaten bird. There was not much we could do, except for taking photos. Finally we had to leave and the bird ended up as a meal for the hungry glaucous gulls. To live is to die. 

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