Event: Through the Eyes of a Seabird

Date: Tuesday April 13, 2010

Time: 7:00 PM

April monthly meeting and program (NSAS Event)

Details:

Have you ever wanted to fly around the world? Travel to a remote island with your mate? Go fishing every day? Have offspring at age 61? Dine on whale vomit? (OK maybe not that last one). If so, maybe you should have been an Albatross. The oceans are full of birds that journey only briefly to land in order to breed.

Join naturalist and expedition leader Ted Cheeseman for a lecture exploring what it is to be a seabird in the vast unforgiving expanse of the open ocean. How is it that albatross can fly 14,000 miles on a single feeding trip to bring home just one meal for a chick? How can penguins survive, thrive, and raise chicks in the world's harshest environments, but yet do not populate the mild tropics? We are only now learning how truly magnificent these animals are - while many species face sharp population declines at the hands of industrial fishing and climate change.

Ted Cheeseman grew up traveling extensively with Cheesemans' Ecology Safaris, and consequently began studying and photographing wildlife as a child. Ted completed graduate studies in tropical conservation biology at Duke University before returning to California to lead and organize expeditions full time. He has led numerous pelagic trips to Antarctica, the Galapagos, and the Dominican Republic. Ted has organized travelers for years to raise support for conservation of Albatross and other seabirds. Most recently, Ted has founded the non-profit CarbonTree Conservation Fund to address tropical deforestation and climate change issues.

Our monthly meetings are held at the Florence Douglas Senior Center, 333 Amador Street, Vallejo, CA. Click here for a map and more information about monthly meetings.

submitted on February 10, 2010, at 10:00 PM PST

(click photos to enlarge)
all bird photos