Point Blue

Eggs, eggs everywhere: Common Murre

The MURREacle of life! The Common Murre (Uria aalge): Since the beginning of the season we have been studying common murres every day. At first we looked for and recorded banded birds in two different plots: Upper Upper: and Shubrick Point: As it is very difficult to read the metal bands from the hides we

Eggs, eggs everywhere: The Gulls

The Western Gull (Larus occidentalis): Everyone who has worked with breeding Western Gulls can say one thing: These birds are loud. At the beginning of the seabird season (March-April) everything was good. We started sighting banded birds. Each bird has a color band and a metal band with a unique 5-digit number. Many birds have

Eggs, eggs everywhere: The Rhinos

The Rhinoceros Auklet (Cerorhinca monocerata): The second seabird study species to lay eggs were the Rhinoceros Auklets. On April 17th Viv found the first egg using the Rhino-Cam. This device is used to monitor natural breeding sites of this species (and to look a bit funky). Four days later, the first eggs were seen inside

Eggs, eggs everywhere: The Cassin's

So… things are starting to get real on the Farallon Islands. Nearly all our seabird study species have started laying their first eggs! First were the Cassin´s Auklets (Ptychoramphus aleuticus): There are 446 regular nest boxes distributed all over the island and 32 nest boxes in a study site called the Habitat Sculpture. These

Changing of Seasons…

Winter on the Farallones is coming to an end; the winter team are collecting the last of their data, packing bags, saying goodbye, and looking forward to hot showers at home. Having been on the island from mid-December, they have been closely monitoring the ups and downs of the Elephant Seal colonies throughout

Rocks In Our Pockets

An exciting weekend on the Farallon Islands! The much anticipated ATMOSPHERIC RIVER 2017 arrived in full force, with drenching downpours, 35 knot winds, and awesome waves. Conducting field work in the wind and water was a challenge, but we happily adapted to the soggy conditions. The promise of a warm cozy house after a long

Happy Holidays from the Farallones – First elephant seal pup of the season born today!

Happy Holidays from the Farallon 2016-17 Winter Crew! We received an extra special gift today! The first elephant seal pup of the season was born! Enjoy the photo and the video below.

2016-17 SEFI Winter Crew Introductions

Greetings from the Farallon Islands. We’ve been dodging raindrops since our arrival but the last few days have been pure sunshine and we’ve been trying to soak up the rays as much as possible. No pregnant female elephants seals have arrived to the island as of yet but we are hopeful the sunshine will start

Unusual Encounters: Ridges in the Water

Before my Farallon internship, multiple former interns and visitors warned me about the boat rides out; they would talk endlessly about the ten foot swells and the seasickness, how much dramamine they had to take, and the absurd amount of flies that would land on you once you stepped foot on the island. I

The webcam is back, and in HD!

Hi all, After much effort the Farallon webcam is back up live, in HD. Check it out here This is an excellent partnership between Point Blue, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and California Academy of Sciences to again let you all get an up close view of the Farallones. Keep you eyes open for amazing

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