How floppy or bent a murre's catch is reveals whether it was caught nearby or far away. They dash through the nesting area to their particular spot, holding the fish as high as they can to avoid the greedy beaks of their feathered neighbors. With practice, we've learned to identify most of the murres' preferred snacks. I.D. key with drawings of various species as they appear in a murre's beak. Whether the fish is bent or floppy tells us how far away it was caught.
Floppy fish are fresh, captured close by.
Bent fish have undergone rigor mortis, suggesting a much longer trip from the sea. This year, the most common fish are sandlance, silvery pencil-thin fish with collapsed tails that look like paintbrushes. The next most common species are herring and salmon. We're finding that the Tatoosh Island murres are eating more than has been recorded previously. We figure the murres have already eaten at least 10,000 juvenile salmon this year.