Kittiwake-sandeel paper!

I should have also mentioned in my previous post that we now have a publication out on our sandeel-kittiwake work. This showed that sandeels aggregated close to the surface during maximum ebb tidal currents, and this was associated with maximum kittiwake feeding.  However this only occurred in limited locations, especially those locations with high sub-surface chlorophyll levels, thus creating localised foraging 'hotspots'. 

Embling et al (2012) Investigating fine-scale spatio-temporal predator-prey patterns in dynamic marine ecosystems: a functional data analysis approach. Journal of Applied Ecology

This is a nice follow on from another paper from the same survey also showing the very patchy nature of these foraging hotspots:

Scott et al (2010) Sub-surface hotspots in shallow seas: fine scale limited locations of top predator foraging habitat indicated by tidal mixing and sub-surface chlorophyll. Marine Ecology Progress Series.

Happy reading!

...still in progress but soon!

It won't be long now before all the cruise results are published in a special issue of Progress in Oceanography - we are just making the final changes to the papers.  It should be in press early next year.  So keep watching this space - a summary of all the papers findings will be posted here once the papers are in press.