My Global Big Day 2018

Last Cornell's Global Big Day on May 5th was certainly the most memorable for me... not only I got a life bird that day (something that is becoming more and more difficult for me in Panama), but I also was involved a lot in the organization and promotion of it before the event and in the data analysis and review after it.  That's right my friends, this was the best GBD for Panama so far, and I like to think that my effort contributed a little bit to the success!

People attending my first talk on GBD and eBird.  Metropolitan Natural Park.  March 28th, 2018. Photo courtesy Audubon Panamá 

The work started several weeks before (as I already explained here).  Personally, I spent several hours reviewing eBird data and other sources to create target lists per provinces and sites and also gave talks about the GBD and the use of eBird in Panama and Cocle provinces (central Panama).  It was fun, but also hard work.  Being in such position helped me to realize that most of the important habitats would be covered for that day, except pelagic waters.  Last year, I participated in a pelagic trip from western Azuero (the report here) and most of the species seen were absent for the GBD that was held just the day before.  There is a problem with pelagics trips in Panama... there are no scheduled trips, the best areas are far away from Panama City (my home), we don't have many pelagic enthusiasts or experienced birders on pelagic avifauna, and those trips are expensive... but I was decided to do it anyway! All the planets aligned because I managed to book a space in the world-renowned Tropic Star Lodge of Bahía Piñas, in Darién province.  They offer pelagic trips for big game fishing on almost a daily basis to one of the richest pelagic zone within the country, and the place is well-known for the tons of fishing world records set there.  I found only few birding trips reports from there, but the quality of the records convinced me that there was not a better place that combines facilities, expertise and pelagic bird diversity in Panama.  Also, being situated in the middle of Darien jungle, it also offers a chance to register some rare eastern Panama species for the count too.

Exchanging airplanes in Garachiné, Darién.  May 4th, 2018

So, as many other birders in Panama, my journey started on May 4th, by boarding the smallest plane I ever had the chance to fly in.  Due to a mechanical issue, we had to land on a forgotten track in the town of Garachiné (Darién), where almost two hours later, another plane (this time a little larger) picked us up and we continued our way to Bahía Piñas.  I spent my time in Garachine watching birds of course, although I saw only common stuff there.  At Piñas, personnel of the lodge was waiting for me and, after a quick boat ride, they were showing my room.  In spite of being tucked in the middle of the jungle in the less developed province of the country, the lodge counts with all the modern facilities you need.  My comfortable room with air conditioning and wi fi was facing directly to the dock, and the property  is completely surrounded by forests.

Tropic Star Lodge dock

The managers of the lodge welcomed me and soon I was birding the gardens before dinner by the pool.  The most common species quickly became evident, but soon I got my first life bird of the journey.  In the way to "The Palace", I noticed a small greenish bird working the Hibiscus along the stairs.  A close look with my binocular revealed a female Viridian Dacnis!  This range-restricted species is only present in eastern Darien province and adjacent Colombia, and is quite rare.  Among the common birds were hordes of Palm, Blue-gray, Plain-colored, Crimson-backed and Flame-rumped -Lemon-rumped- Tanagers, nesting Chestnut-headed Oropendolas and Masked Tityras, Crowned Woodnymphs, Rufous-tailed and Blue-chested Hummingbirds (but no Sapphires) and the Darien race of Bay Wren that was frequently heard (and often seen).

Bay Wren. Tropic Star Lodge, May 5th, 2018

At dinner, we discussed the details of my pelagic trip the next day.  That night, only two other guests joined me and the managers for dinner... the resident chef simply showed off by offering us a gourmet dinner, presenting personally his exquisite creations one by one... what a dinner!  That night, I barely sleep thinking on all those pelagics birds out there.  The Continental Shelf ends abruptly very close to the coast in this part of Panama, so getting to depths of more than 1000 meters takes only one hour from the lodge.  Less time traveling, more enjoying shearwaters, storm-petrels and petrels!  The eight-hours trip would start around 6:30 am after breakfast... we planned to be back at the lodge around 3:00 pm, with time enough to record the birds of the grounds and surroundings.

After a tasty breakfast, I met my crew.  The captain of "Miss Alaska", Gustavo (aka Punto com), and his mate, Levi, were a quite-experienced crew.  They knew about my intentions (birding, not fishing) and as soon as we left the dock, it became evident that these guys know what they are doing.  Instead of navigating directly to deep waters, Gustavo took me north along the shores, watching coastal species like Brown Pelicans, Brown and Blue-footed Boobies, among others.  Seeing the forested coast emerging from the water is simply amazing in that part of Panama.  Gustvo knew that I was looking for pelagics species, but still took us along the shore for a while... but it was for a good reason... there was a rainstorm system over the ocean directly west of the lodge.  He was simply surrounding the storm. Suddenly he said "enough is enough" and turned 90 degrees west towards the Continental Shelf break, a place known as "La Caída"  ("The Fall Out").

Stunning forests and coastal in-shore species

Brown Pelicans. Piñas Bay, May 5th, 2018

On the way to the deeper waters, we kept finding more inshore species and started to see the first flocks of migrant Red-necked Phalaropes.  Even before getting to "La Caída", we started to find some tubenoses in the form of storm-petrels.  The three regular species started to show up, with Least and Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrels as the most common, and only few Black Storm-Petrels.  All of them are quite difficult to photograph under normal sea conditions... so I'm very happy with these photos!

Least Storm-Petrel.  Off Piñas, May 5th, 2018

Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel.  Off Piñas, May 5th, 2018

At waters 300-feet deep, interesting things started to appear.  The first Galapagos Shearwaters showed up.  First a few, then some loose flocks around the boat, some times trying to land on the deck, something that Gustavo commented that was not unusual.  There have even been records of couples copulating in the bow of the boats!  Soon, one of the -many- highlights of the trip appeared suddenly.  A dark, large procellarid with powerful flight passed by the boat... the uniform dark-coloration and dark-tipped pale bill confirmed my suspicion: a Parkinson's Petrel!  Why so excited?  Well, it was a life bird for me, and the first photographic record for Panama!  This species returned from the brink of extinction thanks to the efforts of environmental authorities on the few islands where it breeds in New Zealand.  My record that day in Panamanian waters was the only one Worldwide!

Galapagos Shearwater. Off Piñas, May 5th, 2018

Parkinson's Petrel.  Off Piñas, May 5th, 2018

Few seconds after the petrel, a second all-dark, but smaller procellarid flew by the boat, with contrasting pale underwing... a Sooty Shearwater.  Older literature describe this species as the most common shearwater in Panamá; however, we now know that this species is irregular at best. This is only my second Sooty Shearwater for Panamanian waters in several pelagic trips.  I had some experience with it, however, in waters off Peru, where it is pretty common, and from where is supposed the individual of Central America comes (birds moving north in food-poor years at the Humboldt Current according to Howell 2012).  In fact, I have seen more dark-morph Wedge-tailed Shearwaters that are superficially similar, but general shape and underwing pattern all differs.  I saw only one of those dark-morphs during this pelagic trip; the pale-morphs were more common.

Dark-morph Wedge-tailed Shearwater.  Off Piñas, May 5th, 2018

Pale-morph Wedge-tailed Shearwater. Off Piñas, May 5th, 2018

The tubenoses are always the highlights of any pelagic trip, and many more Galapagos and Wedge-tailed Shearwaters accompanying us during the trip.  We even saw another Parkinson's Petrel in deeper waters, but I'm not sure if it was the same individual.  The only other tubenose that I managed to identify was a Pink-footed Shearwater, an species that proved to be regular in our waters.  Apart of the tubenoses, the lariformes (gulls, terns and skuas) were well-represented as well.  Some true pelagic species started to appear, like Sabine's Gull, Bridled and Sooty Terns and Brown Noddy.

Sooty Tern. Off Piñas, May 5th, 2018

Brown Noddy and Sabine's Gull. Off Piñas, May 5th, 2018

The tactic of Gustavo was simple... he kept an eye to the tuna schools and the dolphins out there.  They were always followed by flocks of birds.  One of those feeding groups included Short-beaked Common Dolphins, the first time ever I see that species in Panama!  Then, while checking the flock with dozens of Black and Common Terns, I focused on an elegant-flying tern with long streamers.  It is not easy to separate some similar-looking species, so good photographs are needed.  This particular bird was difficult to photograph, and I got only some blurry photos until the bird flew directly over us.  I already had an idea of what was seeing... but the photographs confirmed the identification.  Arctic Tern!

Arctic Tern. Off Piñas, May 5th, 2018

Short-beak Common Dolphin. Off Piñas, May 5th, 2018

This bird was in alternate plumage, showing the characteristic gray body (more extensive than in Common Tern), steep forehead, all-red bill (without black tip as in Common Tern) and longer streamers than in Common Tern, but more important, the thin and well-delimited black trailing edge to the primaries, very different to the broader line exhibit by Common Terns.  This is just the fifth report for Panama of Arctic Tern., with the first one being in those very same waters in 1995.  Check the field marks listed above with this photo of Common Tern taken just seconds apart of the Arctic Tern:

Common Tern. Off Piñas, May 5th, 2018

I have to admit that it was strenuous... a little more than eight hours at sea, under a bright sun (yes, Gustavo managed to avoid the rainstorm all day long), little time to rest due to bird activity, carrying my heavy camera and trying to point it to small, flying birds... but it was fun after all.  But my job was not done.  We arrived at the lodge short after 3:00 pm, with time and light enough to watch birds for the GBD in the gardens.  To my surprise, I managed to relocate the Viridian Dacnis in the same general area; except that, this time, it was an adult male.

Viridian Dacnis. Tropic Star Lodge, May 5th, 2018

I just managed some bad photos as you can see.  It turned out that this particular guy was also the only individual reported Worldwide of this species during the GBD!  Two unique species worldwide for the Global Big Day!  In fact, by the end of the day, I managed to find ten (10) species unique for Panama's Global Big Day... more than any other team or individual. Back in my room, taking advantage of the wi fi, I followed closely the results of the count, and started to submit my lists.  That night I barely sleep... and only made a pause for dinner.  After all, the managers had organized a 5 de Mayo party, with Mexican food and allegories, and even a piñata with a Cubera Snapper motive.

Working at my room

Cubera Snapper Piñata

Due to the flight schedule, I spent one and a half day more at the lodge... and to be honest, I spent most of that time reviewing my checklists and the reports send by all the other birders from all over Panama, work that I continued in Panama City with other members of the coordinating committee.  After all, this was my most memorable Global Big Day!  I saw 57 different species of birds that day (less than previous years), but contributed with ten unique species for Panamá and two for the WORLD!!!  And you?  How was your GBD?

And the birding continues! Pelagic off western Azuero

And after exciting 16+ hours of pure birding, we ended at the town of Malena, western Azuero, with our friends Kees and Lowes of Heliconia Inn.  We scheduled a pelagic trip for the next day, and the rest of the participants were already there: Mario Ocaña, George Angehr (yes, the author of "The Birds of Panama" field guide), visiting birder Enos Diestre and Kees Groenedijk as our guide.

That's me, George, Mario, Kees, our captain and Enos

As usual, very early the next day (May 14th) we took a quick breakfast and headed to the dock at Rio Negro, close to the town of Mariato.  With the first lights we started to navigate along the western coast of the Azuero Peninsula, in a route now familiar to some of us who were recurrent in this kind of trips.  It soon became clear that this would be a spectacular journey... since hordes of Black Terns, Brown Noddies and Galapagos Shearwaters started to appear... even close to shore!

We found several of these flocks feeding over schools of Bonitos... the show was simply amazing!  Frenzy feeding action both under and above the waves... it was hard to focus in just one bird.  In fact, among the dozens of goodies and Black Terns, there were other terns species, like Common and Sooty Terns for example.

Brown Noddies

Alternate Black Tern

Common Tern

Sooty Tern

But most important, the first tubenoses were also attending the party.  First a few... then, flocks with up to 50 Galapagos Shearwaters resting on the water or swiftly moving around each good spot.  The Galapagos Shearwaters are always present in these pelagic trips; however, it was the first time I saw so many... reminding me those photos of one of my favorite field guides on pelagic birds.  They allowed some close shots by the way!

Galapagos Shearwater

When we reached the Continental Shelf break, some other tubenoses started to appear... up to three Wedge-tailed Shearwaters started to feed among the Galapagos Shearwaters, while some Black and Wedge-rumped  Storm-Petrels also did some quick appearances... but they were quite shy for photos. Trust me, it is not easy to aim and shoot those little guys from a buoying boat in the middle of the ocean!

Wedge-tailed Shearwater

Wedge-tailed and Galapagos Shearwaters

Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel

We recorded some other species, including Brown and Nazca Boobies, Bridled Terns and Laughing Gulls out there.  We also had some nice non-avian highlights... like several Hammerhead sharks (unknown species... if you have an idea let me know) and at least two different species of sea turtles, including the one pictured here:

Hammerhead Shark sp.

Sea Turtle sp.

As you can see, a successful trip.  Each one of these trips in Panama help us to understand a little bit more our pelagic avifauna... still a lot to do in this aspect of course.  

Pelagic-mania!

Since in the last pelagic trip off Pedasí we did so well, a group of intrepid birders took to the sea on saturday, November 22nd ... and of course I could not miss this opportunity.  This time, George Angehr (also repeating), Karl & Rosabel Kaufmann, Howard Laidlaw and Darien Montañez joined me at the picturesque town of Pedasí (southern Azuero peninsula in central Panama) the day before.

Sunrise at El Arenal

As the previous trip, the starting point was El Arenal beach, which is less than 5 minutes from the hostal in town where we were staying.  A little "panga" took us to the 30 ft sport fishing boat commanded by Jeff, this time assisted by Elvis (aka Chombo) who took the group photo with my cel phone.  Everything was ready and we started the trip with relatively calm seas, leaving El Arenal and Iguana island behind and heading straight to the deep waters surrounding a seamount at 27 nautical milles SE of Punta Mala.

Howard, Karl, Darien, Jan, Rosabel and George

Apart of some common inshore species, like Laughing Gulls and Royal Terns, a group of dolphins welcomed us spinning in the air.  I don't know the species, but they don't seemed to be the typical Tursiops (Bottlenose Dolphins) to whom I'm used... they were smaller and with longer beaks... probably Spinner Dolphins?

Leaving the ID issues on marine mammals behind, lets back to the birds.  The first pelagic species to showed up was the Galapagos Shearwater... a pair of these flew right by the boat allowing great views.  They were of the pale-underwing form... it is important to mention it since some dark-underwing forms occur and the significance of this difference is unknown.

Galapagos Shearwater

Eventually, we started to detect more and more Wedge-tailed Shearwaters.  Although considered rare, the Wedge-tailed Shearwaters are regular in Panamanian waters.  In fact, this and the Galapagos Shearwaters were the most common encountered shearwaters in all my pelagic trips off Azuero.

Wedge-tailed Shearwater

Wedge-tailed Shearwater

As usual, most of the birds were pale morphs... and most of them were in heavy wing molt too.  We also saw an intermediate morph.  The slim shape accentuated by its long tail and the underwing pattern eliminates other possibilities... although we were looking for some rarer species that, in Panama, includes Sooty and Christmas Shearwaters!

Wedge-tailed Shearwater intermediate morph

But we were not disappointed at all!  A huge flock of feeding Wedge-tailed Shearwaters (and a lonely Pink-footed Shearwater too), gulls (including my life Sabine's Gull) and terns was patrolled by some feathered bandits specialized in kleptoparasitism... they were harassing smaller birds to stole their catches.  I'm talking about the jaegers... two species in fact.  We saw first a Pomarine Jaeger easily identified thanks to its twisted and elongated central tail feathers (plus other field marks, specially size).

Pomarine Jaeger

Then, we saw a jaeger harassing a Sooty Tern.  Our impression was that this particular jaeger was just slightly bigger than the tern, suspecting that it was a Parasitic Jaeger; however, it was too far away. Later, I photographed an adult jaeger that showed some interest in our boat.  The clean white underparts (with no mottling in the flanks at all), faint breast band and pointed, elongated central tail feathers indicates Parasitic Jaeger.

Parasitic Jaeger

But the surprise came later.  In the distance, another bandit was after a large tern.  This time, the supposed jaeger looked huge, considerably larger than the poor tern and than the Pomarine Jaeger seen before... but more important, this bird had VERY conspicuous and large white panels in the primaries... a South Polar Skua!

South Polar Skua flying away

Notice the large-bodied appearance and the short, squared tail.  The broad, long wings with those white flashes, the huge size and the powerful wingbeats reminded me a Crested Caracara... yes, a caracara!  Although a marginal photo, this is probably the only photographic evidence of its presence in Panamanian waters (there are several sight records).  I also photographed some other species for my personal collection... including the three regularly recorded storm-petrels in Panamanian waters: Least, Wedge-rumped and Black Storm-Petrels:

Least Storm-Petrel 

Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel 

Black Storm-Petrel

We didn't see Tahiti Petrels nor Nazca Boobies in this trip... but in return we got several jaegers, skuas and my life Sabine's Gull... that's why I like so much these trips... you can expect the unexpected!  

Pelagic off Pedasi

Pelagic birding is always fascinating... the idea of chasing birds that only land to nest in remote islands, with some of them crossing the world to visit our seas, is just overwhelming!  Our knowledge in Panama about our pelagic birds is limited, so there is plenty of room for new discoveries.  That's why I did not think twice when I was offered the opportunity to participate on a pelagic trip off the Azuero Peninsula in central Panama from the charming town of Pedasi, last weekend.

Sunrise at El Arenal

So I joined George Angehr, Rafael Luck and Euclides "Kilo" Campos aboard a 30 ft sport fishing boat anchored at El Arenal beach, just few minutes from town.  Our captain Jeff and his crew member "Lito" were willing to make our trip enjoyable as possible, so they received us with a cup of hot coffee and explained some safety issues before departing.  Jeff is experienced in this kind of trips, since he was the captain of our last pelagic (back in 2010) and, of course, of the most recent trip earlier this year (report here).

Euclides "Kilo" Campos, George Angehr, Jan Axel Cubilla and Rafael Luck

Good fortune smiled on us from the beginning... the sea was calm as a mirror in El Arenal, and remained so throughout the trip... no seasickness at all (except when Lito mixed up the chum... more on that later).  Also, our captain managed to keep us in schedule and to avoid the thunderstorms that approached from several directions!  We planned a 8-hours trip out at the sea with the intention to visit two seamounts to the south and south-east of Punta Mala, one of these surrounded by 1000-meters depth where we saw a Tahiti Petrel (the first for Panama) in 2010.  We got some common in-shore species the first hour of the trip, like Brown Pelicans, Magnificent Frigatebird and Brown Boobies.

A shy Brown Booby

Soon, we started to see more pelagic species.  Not exactly tubenoses, but some interesting species like Sooty, Black and Common Terns.  The later prove quite difficult to ID at sea wearing its winter plumage.  Of course, we were on the search for some rarer terns (like Artic or Roseate Terns for example)... but the photos were pretty useful for ID purposes.

Common Tern

We reached the first seamount by 8:00 am (N 7º 14' 52.0'', W -80º 1' 0.2'').  The idea was to spent at least one hour at each seamount chumming.  Our chum consisted in a mixture of fish oil, some cans of tuna, sardines and popcorn.  We only had two gallons of fish oil, which is hard to find in Panama.  However, I want to thank Fulo Motta and Lily Vallarino who kindly donated the oil and who seemed really interested when Rafael explained them what we would do with it!  Instead of throwing bait overboard constantly to create a wake behind the boat, we decided to throw some to create a "stain" to then navigate around it by making wide circles, waiting for the tubenoses!

Bucket of chum... stinky!

We were surprised by the strong smell of this modest mixture... as soon as Lito started to mix it up, the stench penetrated directly to our medulla oblongata!  Kilo and I struggled to avoid throwing up at the time (we were really close to the chum).  Thank God we got used quickly... and the chum started to work... and boy, it did it!  A medium-sized bird approached swiftly gliding low over the waves, arcing and banking with its long wings.  Dark brown overall with contrasting, well demarcated white lower breast and ventral parts... Kilo and I shouted at the same time TAHITI PETREL!!!

Tahiti Petrel

Tahiti Petrel

The moment was so sublime that even George  thought we were joking... a Tahiti Petrel was inspecting  the stain of chum, allowing great views and photos as well (all the bird photos in this post are mine... If you want to see some really great photos of this trip, check Rafael's at the report in Xenornis).  Size, all-dark throat, lack of white leading edge to the wings and pale rump separates this species from other very similar (although unexpected) tubenoses, including Phoenix Petrel.  In fact, these photos confirm its presence in Panama waters, because it was considered hypothetical for Panama.

Tahiti Petrel with southern Azuero in the background

Eventually, we saw two birds at the same time!  I really like the above photo because you can see how close to mainland we were... that is the charm of this region ... the continental shelf ends abruptly near the coast here, allowing us to have these experiences.  The Tahiti Petrel was not the only species attracted to by the chum... three species of Storm-Petrels decided to show up as well.  I had seen both Wedge-rumped and Black Storm-Petrels before in Peru and Panama... but the Least Storm-Petrel was a life bird for me... the first for the day!

The Black Storm-Petrels are not really "black"

After this success at the first seamount, we decided to go to the next one, which seemed even more promising given the proximity to really deep waters.  On route we started to see our first shearwaters, plus another species already recorded, like Brown Boobies and Sooty Terns.  The first shearwaters to appear were the Galapagos Shearwaters.  This species is regular and common (at least in september and october) and so far all seem to be of the "pale underwing form" (there is some variation in the underwing pattern of this taxa).

Galapagos Shearwaters (pale underwing form)

Then came the second most common shearwater for this time of the year, the Wedge-tailed Shearwater.  My photos shows an individual in pale-phase, by far the most common out there; however, we also saw a dark-phase individual (photo in Xenornis).  Notice the slender profile accentuated by the long tail and long, dark bill.

Wedge-tailed Shearwater (pale phase)

Wedge-tailed Shearwater (pale phase)

After two hours, we finally reached the second seamount (N 7º 18' 31.7'', W -79º 39' 43.1'') and started to chum again, this time with no adverse effects at all.  This time, the birds were slow to appear; however, the first one to show up was... you guessed it, a Tahiti Petrel again!!!

Our third Tahiti Petrel for the day!

Tahiti Petrel over the waves

The photos showed a different bird to the two others we encountered before in the first seamount (notice the molt in the flight feathers)... simply amazing!  But soon things got better... our captain warned us that a white bird was flying in front of the boat heading to port... so I hurried in that direction in order to catch a distant Nazca Booby that seemed to be just passing (completely ignoring us).

Nazca Booby

It was a lifer for me as well!  And a long expected one.  I managed to get the distant photo above showing the diagnostic orange bill.  The bird disappeared in the waves soon after that.  And we started to see Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrels.  At one point, we saw three of them at the same time... a low number considering previous experiences with this species in these waters.

Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel

We were running out of time, so we started the way back.  By 12:30 pm, we saw a huge flock of shearwaters and terns close to the surface.  According to Lito, this was a feeding frenzy over a school of tuna, so we headed there.  The activity was fast... and furious.  Soon, a Pomarine Jaeger (the second for the day) inspected our wake, followed closely by our second Nazca Booby!  This time, the bird circled us once (allowing great photos) and lost interest.

Nazca Booby 

We finally managed to spot a definitive Sooty Shearwater (after several false alarms, including the dark-phase Wedge-tailed Shearwater of which I spoke earlier), the silvery wing linings literally shone.  We are pretty sure that it was not alone, but we were not able to inspect all the flock due to lack of time.  The big surprise came shortly after this.  Three shearwaters were approaching the boat from the bow to port flying just a few feet above the waves... I called them first Wedge-taileds due to their size and general pattern and started to shoot them; however, I realized that they looked stockier and not as long-tailed, so I yelled to Rafael to shoot them with his full-frame camera, which he did when the birds made ​​an U-turn and began to approach from astern.

By that time, I just thought it was a good opportunity to photograph the birds, as they were passing close... I shoot them again, but this time managing only to capture the back of one of them.

It was not until I reviewed my first photo that I realized that these birds were in fact PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATERS... a species that I had seen twice in Peru in large numbers, but ever recorded for Panama... I grabbed Rafael's camera and started to see his photos as well... simply WOW!!!  He managed excellent shots of these birds!  The stocky shape, lack of white in the rump and the heavy looking, pale bill with black tip are good field marks.

Pink-footed Shearwater

In the cropped photo above is evident the underwing pattern... even the pale legs are visible (almost reaching the tip of the tail)!  If accepted, this would be a new addition to Panama's bird list.  Certainly, a successful trip... two life birds, another two Panama life birds, one confirmed species and another new to the country!  This only proves that we need to venture more often to these depths in order to better understand the occurrence and distribution of these pelagic species in our country.