29 June 07

Back from Monterey

Bat rays at the Monterey Bay Aquarium I now know what organs are most affected in Japanese quail by Napthalene (kidneys); that until very recently the Norwegian response to oiled wildlife was to shoot it; that shade cloth makes a better covering for bird-drying pens than either sheets or blankets if you want to have better air flow (which you do, because it cuts down the incidence of lethal fungi like aspergillus in birds that are being rehabilitated); that bat rays will suck on your fingers if you try to feed them shrimp; that the application and subsequent magnetic removal of iron powder to oiled feathers removes more oil than detergent washing alone.

Horned puffin I also now know the best spot in the world for breakfast if you want it in the company of a horned puffin, three sea-otters, and a constant stream of pelagic cormorants…
Pelagic cormorants Sea otter grooming

Posted by at 08:58 PM in Critters | Link |
  1. Interesting stuff! I sure hope the Horned Puffins stick around for one more month….


    richard    30. June 2007, 09:31    Link
  2. They’re all the way south to Monterey? Dang, nobody tells me anything.

    So are we talking about the MBA’s cafe?


    Ron Sullivan    30. June 2007, 18:37    Link
  3. Ron — my emails to you are bouncing. It was the Monterey Plaza Hotel, where the conference was. There’s a lot of krill in the water this year, unusually, which is bringing these birds south…


    Pica    1. July 2007, 09:12    Link
  4. I think I’m becoming unhealthily obsessed with Horned Puffins – when I first saw your Sea Otter sketch I saw a Horned Puffin floating belly-up staring at its feet!


    richard    3. July 2007, 12:14    Link

Previous: Next: