Every Wednesday night at Palmer Station, Antarctica, is "science lecture night". Everyone comes. Couches and chairs are rearranged to squeeze carpenter, plumber, cook, computer technologist, M.D,. communication specialist, supply manager, professors, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students alike, into the limited confines of the lounge.

Over the coming weeks, members of our own science group will be presenting science lectures. But this past Wednesday night featured Donna Patterson, an energized ornithologist by trade, discussing her long-term studies of the foraging behavior of the majestic giant petrel, an Antarctic bird whose wing span may attain six feet. Donna, and her husband, Bill Fraser, have been coming here to Palmer Station for 10 and 25 years, respectively, to study aspects of the life of Antarctic birds. Their work has contributed not only to what we know about how birds make a living in this extreme environment, but through their documentation of increases and decreases in various populations of Antarctic birds, they have helped scientists understand and make predictions about patterns of global warming.

As the evening unfolded we learned all about Donna's recent research examining the flight paths of a population of giant petrels nesting on one of the nearby islands. Adult giant petrels are well-known for their ability to travel very long distances to forage for their prey, both to feed themselves and their rapidly growing turkey-sized chicks (they regurgitate this food for their chicks). However, in the grand scheme, little is known about how far giant petrels really travel or their ultimate destination.

To begin to piece together this puzzle, Donna and Bill had taped satellite transmitters onto the backs of male and female adult petrels. Working with these birds can be challenging. Indeed, only yesterday, Chip, our station communications specialist, had volunteered to assist with the birds and had received an unwelcome shower of the oily regurgitate the petrel's spray on would-be predators. Rumor has it that one may as well throw out clothes soaked with this oily liquid.

The tricky part of the whole experiment was waiting at the nests to try and recapture the birds after their foraging trips. At $3000 apiece, the satellite transmitters were cherished items. Moreover, each returning bird's instrument carried critical information that allowed Donna and Bill to reconstruct the flight path.

With several successful petrel recaptures to her credit, Donna displayed maps of Antarctica showing the flight paths plotted as colorful lines. To her surprise the birds had all traveled along the Antarctic Peninsula southwards, covering distances between 200 and 1900 miles round trip on each foraging flight. Some females had traveled all the way to the sea ice edge, perhaps to forage on abundant squid, fish or seal carcasses. Males had stayed closer to home.

One daunting question is why the birds make such long flights for food in the first place, when there is relatively abundant food much closer to home. These and other intriguing questions remain to be answered through the remarkable efforts of Antarctic ornithologists such as Donna Patterson and Bill Fraser.