YELLOW-NOSED ALBATROSS ( Diomed ea chlororhyn chos) 

 Status . --Vagrant (accidental). 



Records .— 1 recorded, 111 km E Ocean City (38°19'N, 73°52'W), 1 February 

 1975 (Rowlett 1975, Finch et a1. 1978). 



Remarks . --McDani el (1973) summarized 13 records of the yellow-nosed alba- 

 tross in the northwestern Atlantic between 1885 and 1972. At least five have 

 been reported since then. The species normally ranges over the sub-Antarctic 

 Oceans, and its occurrence in the Northern Hemisphere may be the result of 

 storms, disorientation, or even having been carried aboard a ship (Bourne 

 1967). 



NORTHERN FULMAR ( Fulmarus glacialis ) 



Status . --Irregular, rare to uncommon fall and spring transient and winter 

 visitant, generally seaward of the 30-fathom contour (Fig. 6). 



Earlies t fall record . --26 September 1976. 



Latest spring record. --9 May 1976 (100 were sighted at Hudson Canyon, off 

 New Jersey, on 1 June 1974 Scott and Cutler 1974b). 



Maximum counts . --76 in 5 h in the vicinity of Baltimore Canyon, 7 March 

 1976; 48 in 3 h in same area, 9 May 1976. 



Remarks . --The northern fulmar was first reported off the coast of Mary- 

 land by Rowlett (1973b). Only three previous records are known from the 

 northern Chesapeake Bight, all along coastal beaches in Delaware (Broun 1953) 

 and Virginia (Murray 1957, Sykes 1964). 



Wynne-Edwards (1935) noted that the northern fulmar is one of the most 

 pelagic North Atlantic seabirds, seldom wandering inshore of 100 fathoms. He 

 sugaested that their diet of macroplankton was associated only with deep 

 oceanic waters. Most northern fulmars were seen along the Continental Slope 

 over the 40-500 fathom zones. Their occurrence may be related to an upwelling 

 of nutrients along the edge of the Shelf and along Baltimore Canyon, as well 

 as the coincidental presence of foreign fishing vessels that regularly work 

 this area from early December to May. 



Fisher (1952) suggested that the fulmar's southward range expansion to 

 the northeast Atlantic' during the past 200 years might be attributed to the 

 growth of the commercial fishing industry and concommitant increase in the 

 abundance of fish offal as a food source. Historically, enormous concentra- 

 tions of fulmars have gathered among the North Atlantic whaling and fishing 

 fleets to feed on their wastes. 



The fulmar has experienced a rapid expansion in the northwest Atlantic 

 during the past 10 years. A decade ago, the species was generally scarce 

 southland west of boreal and sub-Arctic Canadian waters. Within the past few 



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