Ancient Murrelet washes up alive along Fla Coast (first ever)

[Donna]

This afternoon we received what appears to be a live, juvenile Ancient Murrelet into the bird rehabilitation hospital at the Marine Science Center, in Ponce Inlet, Volusia County.

This appears to be the first record of this species for the state of Florida. The bird was found by Ponce Inlet Fireman staff Steven Bell and John Brooks. The bird was found at the Ponce Inlet boat ramp tangled in Sargassum weed.
They alerted staff of the Marine Science Center which is located just across the street.

The bird is still alive as of 4:30 p.m.

Michael

Michael Brothers

UPDATE:

The Ancient Murrelet died last night. Verification from Bruce Anderson and Andy Kratter both indicate that this is the first record for this species in Florida and the only record for the southeastern U.S., except for one record from Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana in 1954. We have frozen the specimen and will turn it over to the collections of the Florida Museum of Natural History.

Michael

Michael Brothers
Marine Science Center
Ponce Inlet

Marine Science Center
Ponce Inlet