Frequent shallow diving by a Northern Fulmar feeding at Shetland

We studied the diving behavior of chick-rearing Northern Fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis) in Shetland, U.K., in July 1998. Seen birds were caught oil nest s and fitted with data loggers attached to a plastic ring on one leg of eac h bird. Only one data set, spanning tell days was recovered. Dives (N = 972 ) were generally shallow; the maximum dive depth was 2.6 in. Maximum dive d uration was 8 s. Dicing took place most often in the afternoon; hardly any dives occurred during the night. Diving activity was irregular over the stu dy period with a peak activity of 0.9 dives/min over many hours.