Summary
Until a month ago, when the VWS observed the phenomena, the last time any person witnessed such an occurrence was back in 1806. Then, near the Columbia River's mouth, Captain William Clark of the famed Lewis and Clark Expedition noted a "vulture" with a 10-foot wingspan-i.e. a California condor-"feeding on the remains of a whale and other fish which have been thrown up by the waves on the sea coast."
Pointing at the remains of the sea otter, [Joe Burnett] sees the picked-over corpse as evidence of the success of VWS' efforts to reintroduce the condor to its native habitat. "It's a big step for them," he says. "It seems they are getting closer to self-sustaining."As the condor flies in and out of a wispy patch of fog located above the lumpy rock point, Burnett notices the giant bird is swinging out over the ocean. "It's pretty unusual," he says. "He's going way out over that point. It's pretty bold. I've never seen that."See the full content of this document
Extract
A Historic Feast
On a remote section of beach along the Big Sur coast, Ventana Wilderness Society (VWS) Senior Wildlife Biologist Joe Burnett and I come to the first evidence that California condors have been in the area: a sea otter carcass picked clean. Lying in the sand below us is a tangle of vertebrae an...
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