7 OCTOBER 1997. AUSTRALIA: SEABIRDS, CLIMATE
What is going on with all the Bulwer's Petrel sightings? Why and how could these birds reach the East coast of Australia? (They should be off the west coast). Water temperature off Sydney and Wollongong is exceptionally low at the moment could this be a factor? Is it the weather, lack of observers or just lost birds? I do hope the very serious haze problems in Indonesia is not a factor.--Tony Palliser<TPALLISE@au.oracle.com>.
Further on Tony Palliser's remarks on sea conditions.I was down on the south coast at the weekend, watching thousands of Short-tailed Shearwaters moving by. Can anyone tell me if the Eastern Australian current (which is really a series of giant eddies, that move up and down the coast) is related to the El Niño phenomenon and how? The behaviour of the Eastern Australian current seems to be directly connected with the numbers of shearwater mortalities, but I am not aware if those deaths also correlate with El Niño. Does anybody know?
Also, we get the worst droughts in OZ when we get the combination OF an El Niño and also a phenomenon that affects the north-west Indian Ocean. I haven't seen anything about what's happening in the Indian Ocean. Can anyone shed any light on this?--John M. Penhallurick <jmp@comserver.canberra.edu.au> --via Bevan Craddock
b.craddock@which.netBack to
The 1997 El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO 97-98)