An Experiment on the Recovery of Dead Birds from the North Sea

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Abstract
Dead gulls marked either with leg rings or bill tags were dropped in the North Sea to simulate a mortality incident. Recovery rates were 0.3% for rings and 19.3% for the more durable and conspicuous tags. Recovery places were mainly in Norway but spread between 58-70% N. Reports were spread over a long time with a median interval of 142 days. Most bodies had probably decomposed in 6 mo. and many in less times so many reports probably referred to plastic markers alone. The distribution of recoveries was broadly in line with that predicted by wind vector analysis. Bodies moved at 11.9% of the wind speed as measured at Bergen, but it was 3.0 times more windy in the North Sea, so the real relative drift rate was 4.0%. A major bird mortality incident in the North Sea would not readily be detected or measured by emergency beached bird surveys.

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