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Tide Pool ‘Ūlili

Working the splash zone tide pools, this wandering tattler probes the rocks and periwinkles for a meal, sometimes while dodging breaking waves. ‘Ūlili, the Hawaiian name, resembles the tattler’s alarm call. With an expansive migratory range, the wandering tattler lives up to its common name. ‘Ūlili were considered messengers and scouts of the gods. A magnificent navigator, the tattler annually migrates between Alaska and Canada to tropical Pacific islands on a high endurance non-stop flight of 72 to 96 hours. Using the stars and the earth’s magnetic field, perhaps visually with magnetoreception molecules of cryptochrome in its retina, ‘ūlili find a route over thousands of miles of featureless open ocean.

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Uploaded on January 25, 2025
Taken on December 27, 2024