In a recent article written by Freda Kreier, I learned about a very interesting phenomenon that some researchers have discovered. Many different species of seabirds have had their behavior studied during typhoons in the seas around Japan.
What’s going on?
Let’s get straight to the point. Some seabirds are flying directly into storms! The observations of the birds’ behavior differed greatly when a storm was present and when one was not. It’s as if the birds sense the storm coming, and head to the center. An example of this behavior can be seen in the following video:
In this video, the various colorful paths are flight paths of streaked shearwaters and the black path is the path of storm “Soulik” and typhoon “Jebi” respectively. You can see that as Soulik approaches, many of the birds alter their course directly into the direction of the storm. Then, right after Soulik, Jebi appears and the birds nearest to the typhoon engage in similar behavior.
You can find more evidence of this behavior in different scenarios in this research article: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2212925119
Why?
Now, let us discuss why on Earth this would be happening! As discussed by Emily Shepard, a contributor to the previous research article, during a storm, birds at sea have nowhere to go. Their options to choose from are not ideal in the slightest. Birds can either go inland if they are close enough, or stay out on the ocean.
Two Choices:
Go Inland
Even though going inland may seem like an obvious safe option, it is often much safer for these birds to stay out in the ocean. If a bird were to stay near shore during a storm, it runs the risk of being blown onto land or hit by debris carried by the strong winds.
Remain At Sea
Being at sea during a storm instinctively sounds dangerous to most people. However, it might be the safest option! If a bird were to go towards the storm, it has the ability to coast along, riding on the winds of the storm. An analogous situation might be when a person gets swept out to sea by a riptide. In that scenario, the best course of action is to float and allow yourself to be carried by the current. If you fight it, you will become tired and possibly drown. I believe this is why the birds do this. It makes sense to just float along with the winds and preserve your energy until its over.
It is also important to note that the birds already inland do not seem to participate in this behavior. I believe it is more of a “spur of the moment” type of situation. If a bird is out on the sea, they have the choice to exert themselves fight the storm to get to shore, or ride the storm through.
Although this whole situation seems outlandish, when we dive in and really think about the birds’ choices, it ends up making a lot of sense!
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