title: Subglacial discharges create fluctuating foraging hotspots for sea birds in tidewater glacier bays.
abstract: Although the processes occurring at the front of an ice face in tidewater glacier bays still await thorough investigation, their importance to the rapidly changing polar environment is spurring a considerable research effort. Glacier melting, sediment delivery and the formation of seabird foraging hotspots are governed by subglacial discharges of meltwater. We have combined the results of tracking black-legged kittiwakes Rissa tridactyla equipped with GPS loggers, analyses of satellite images and in situ measurements of water temperature, salinity and turbidity in order to examine the magnitude and variability of such hotspots in the context of glacier bay hydrology. Small though these hotspots are in size, foraging in them appears to be highly intensive. They come into existence only if the subglacial discharge reaches the surface, if the entrainment velocity at a conduit is high and if there is sufficient macroplankton in the entrainment layer. The position and type of subglacial discharges may fluctuate in time and space, thereby influencing glacier bay hydrology and the occurrence of foraging hotspots.
authors.affiliation: GIS Centre, University of Gdansk, 80-952 Gdansk, Poland.
authors.forename: Jacek Andrzej
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Urbanski
authors.affiliation: Department of Vertebrate Ecology and Zoology, University of Gdansk, 80-308 Gdansk, Poland.
authors.forename: Lech
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Stempniewicz
authors.affiliation: Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences, 81-712 Sopot, Poland.
authors.forename: Jan Marcin
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Węsławski
authors.affiliation: Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences, 81-712 Sopot, Poland.
authors.forename: Katarzyna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dragańska-Deja
authors.affiliation: GIS Centre, University of Gdansk, 80-952 Gdansk, Poland.
authors.forename: Agnieszka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wochna
authors.affiliation: Department of Vertebrate Ecology and Zoology, University of Gdansk, 80-308 Gdansk, Poland.
authors.forename: Michał
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goc
authors.affiliation: Department of Vertebrate Ecology and Zoology, University of Gdansk, 80-308 Gdansk, Poland.
authors.forename: Lech
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Iliszko