Remarks .--The greater shearwater, like the Cory's, was widely dispersed 

 and often solitary over the Continental Shelf, but appeared to be more num- 

 erous over waters between the 40 and 100 fathom contours. Northward passage 

 in spring probably reaches its peak in early summer as revealed by counts of 

 1,000 at Hudson Canyon, off New Jersey (Scott and Cutler 1973b), and 10,000 

 greater and sooty shearwaters approximately 130 km S of Fire Island Inlet, New 

 York, 5-7 July 1975 (Buckley et al. 1S75). The latter concentration corres- 

 ponded with a "heavy die-off" of greater shearwaters along the Delmarva coast 

 in late June (Scott 1975). Further investigation in the northern Chesapeake 

 Bight may reveal other large concentrations in areas that afford prolonged 

 feeding activity. My counts of up to 350 at Hudson Canyon in late October and 

 early November 1975, and the continued presence of small numbers into early 

 December off the Delmarva Peninsula contradict the popular notion that greater 

 shearwaters are generally absent in fall. 



Greater shearwaters readily respond to chumming, often approaching so 

 close to the boat that they can be caught with a dip net. 



E 

 o 



(0 



1000-1 



500- 



100- 



40- 



30 



20- 



10- 







XXX 



X 



X 



X X 



!! 



<.i 

 <.i 



— I 1 1 1 1 I I 



JFMAMJJA 



month 



X 



I' 



— I 1 



O N D 



ri37 



-118 \2. 



-Ill 3> 



- 95 0) 



-77 E 



- 54 ^ 



- 19 -^ 

 ■- 



1=0.1-1.0 1=1.1-10 



MEAN NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS OBSERVED PER HOUR 

 X = ZONE NOT SAMPLED IN THIS MONTH 



Figure 8. Seasonal abundance and seaward distribution patterns of the greater 



shearwater in the northern Chesapeake Bight, 1971-1977. 



SOOTY SHEARWATER (Puffinus griseus ) 



Status . --Uncommon spring and early summer transient from late April to 

 mid-June over all areas of the Continental Shelf (Fig. 9). 



Earliest record . --24 April 1977. 



Latest record . --10 June 1976. 



15 



