Brant Are On Their Way: An E-Mail Story "My heart goes where the wild goose goes. . ." Who has not felt a restlessness and longing at the sight of the great migrations across the skies? Some lucky students in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and Mexico can now do more than sing about it. They have been linked by e-mail to monitor the migration of some 130,000 Pacific black brant, the small dark geese that feed on eelgrass and can fly all the way from the Alaskan peninsula to Baja California in an amazing 52 hours. The Brant Project is funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Lannan Foundation, pro esteros, Ducks Unlimited of Mexico, and participating school districts. A leading role in the project is being played by pro esteros, a bi-national citizens organization dedicated to conservation of the esturaries of Baja California.

Photo, left: COPYRIGHT GARY KRAMER Below: COPYRIGHT ERIC NELSON, HUMBOLDT BAY NATIONAL WILDLIFE RESERVE

subject: Brant are on their way date: Thu, 24 Oct 1996 15:29:46 from: Cold Bay School (Alaska)@ aol.com to: proester@telnor.net, the coosbay school@ore.us, alex@padillbay.gov, Canadianschools@qBay.net, folks@noaa.gov, folks@fws.gov The students of Cold Bay school wish to report that the brant started to leave at 9:30 GMT on 23 October, 1996. The weather at Cold Bay was overcast with winds gusting to 42 mph at 288 degrees. The temperature was approximately 35 degrees F. Those in pro esteros can expect to see brant arriving approximately 52 hours after departure from Cold Bay. Keep us informed of your sightings. --Cold Bay students subject: Brant are on their way date: Thu, 24 Oct 96 15:04:00 from: the coosbay school@ ore.us to: Cold Bay School (Alaska)@ aol.com, proester@telnor.net, alex@padillbay.gov, Canadianschools@qBay.net, folks@noaa.gov, folks@fws.gov to: All Great! We were really excited to hear the news. Best of luck!!!!!!!!! subject: Report from San Quintín date: Wed, 6 Nov 96 13:32:58 to: All from: Proesteros <proester@telnor.net> Hi everyone: This is our report from San Quintín (the school is not yet hooked up for e-mail): Brant were first spotted in San Quintín on October 26. On Friday we went to see them. The weather was very bad, with strong winds and rain. One of the local guides told us that with that kind of weather, the brant were outside the bay, where they can find a few beds of eelgrass, and the brant will enter the bay with the low tide. We received reports of 182 brant north of Scammon's Lagoon, and around 200 in Guerrero Negro Bay. We hope to have the e-mail for the school next week. --pro esteros office Ensenada subject: Brant drink water date: Wed, 6 Nov 96 13:34:22 from: alex@padillabay.gov to: All Dear brant monitors: I have been wondering about brant geese spending so much time on and over salt water. Can anyone tell me if brant drink fresh water or salt water? --Sincerely, Alex subject: re: Brant drink water date: Thu, 7 Nov 96 13:57:23 from: Neil@qBay.net to: alex@padillabay.gov Brant are true sea geese and thus have salt glands that enable them to drink seawater. The paired salt glands are near the base of the bill and the eye sockets. Blood transfers excess salt to the glands which remove the salt and send it to the nasal cavity where it is released through the nostrils. I have, however, seen brant many times concentrating near small creeks and areas of freshwater runoff and have watched them apparently drinking, so unlike some seabirds (e.g., petrels), they can apparently drink both fresh and salt water. --Regards, Neil subject: San Quintín-the brant are here! date: Wed, 13 Nov 96 14:04 from: SanQuintín<proester@telnor.net> to: All Hello to everyone: We are the students at the high school near Baha San Quintín. We have just connected our e-mail so sorry we did not report in person earlier. This is the very first electronic mail ever to go out of San Quintín! We were unable to spot the brant the first day they arrived, because the weather was very bad. But two days later, some of us were able to find some of the geese, and since then more and more brant have arrived at the bay. --San Quintín students subject: Many brant are here date: Mon, 2 Dec 96 10:02 from: San Quintín<proester@telnor.net> to: All Hello to the brant group: Right now there are over 20,000 brant in the bays at San Quintín. The scientists from SEMARNAP (Secretary for the Environment, Natural Resources, and Fisheries of Mexico) and from the Biosphere Reserve (Vizcaino) counted them. Also, they told us that there are a few thousand Branta around the wetlands of Guerrero Negro and the Vizcaino Reserve to the south. --San Quintín students subject: Report from San Quintín date: Wed, 4 Dec 96 13:12 from: San Quintín<proester@telnor.net> to: All Hi everyone: Having the computer hooked to e-mail has created a lot of excitement in San Quintín. Everyone comes in to the school to see how it works. The students tell them about our monitoring project and how important the wetlands are for the brant. Also, I am pleased to report that the Secretary of Tourism for the State of Baja California (Norte), having heard about our brant project, has just announced that he will include the annual arrival of the Branta in his brochure of important eco-tourist attractions for our state. --pro esteros office Ensenada Return migration is expected at the end of March. Visit the brant home page at: www.be.wednet.edu/blackbrandt or send e-mail to frede@charleston.coosbay.k12. or.us, or alex@padillabay.gov or contact pro esteros at: proester@telnor.net 5187 Saddlebrook Drive, Oakland 94619, (510) 482-2867. Some e-mail addresses in this article, which has been adapted from the pro esteros newsletter, have been altered.