Great Shearwater | Oceana
Home / Great Shearwater
Marine Life Encyclopedia > Seabirds > Great Shearwater

Great Shearwater

The great shearwater is a voyager of the sea, traveling thousands of kilometers each year as it glides just above the waves, wings just shearing the water’s surface.

 

The great shearwater has a wide distribution, found all the way from sub-Antarctic islands up through the Atlantic Ocean to Canada and Greenland.3 Its back and head are mostly brown or black, except for a white band on their tail feathers and also around their neck, giving the bird a capped appearance. Its wings, which span about 1-1.2 meters (3.3-3.9 feet) across, are also covered in dark feathers with a lighter underwing. Expert flyers, these birds spend most of their life on the wing, using air currents over waves to soar vast distances. 

Their travels are part of a yearly migration that begins in April in the Southern Hemisphere where they breed and takes them all the way north past Greenland before returning again to their nesting islands in November. Shearwaters come together in colonies to nest in burrows or crevices along island shores, with each pair raising a single chick together. They are also social while migrating, with flocks traveling and hunting together. They eat primarily fish and squid, which they catch by diving into the water from the air or surface-seizing — landing on the water and “walking” towards food on the surface.

 

 

While great shearwaters are currently considered relatively widespread with a stable worldwide population, they are vulnerable to high levels of bycatch, being accidentally caught in fishing gear.

 

 

Because they rely on healthy, productive oceans across vast migratory routes, international conservation efforts are key to protecting this far-ranging seabird. Oceana campaigns around the world to reduce animals from being incidentally caught in fishing gear as bycatch as well as to rebuild healthy and a bundant oceans for years to come.

 

 

 

GET INVOLVED

DONATE TODAY

SUPPORT OUR WORK TO PROTECT THE OCEANS BY GIVING TODAY

With the support of more than 1 million activists like you, we have already protected over 4 million square miles of ocean.

DONATE

TAKE ACTION NOW

SUPPORT POLICY CHANGE FOR THE OCEANS

Decision-makers need to hear from ocean lovers like you. Make your voice heard!

ACT NOW

VISIT OUR ADOPTION CENTER

SYMBOLICALLY ADOPT AN ANIMAL TODAY

Visit our online store to see all the ocean animals you can symbolically adopt, either for yourself or as a gift for someone else.

SHOP THE STORE

DOWNLOAD OCEAN ACTIVITIES

HELP KIDS DISCOVER OUR BLUE PLANET

Our free KELP (Kids Environmental Lesson Plans) empower children to learn about and protect our oceans!

LEARN MORE

FEATURED CAMPAIGN

Save the Oceans, Feed the World

We are restoring the world’s wild fish populations to serve as a sustainable source of protein for people.

Learn More

MORE CAMPAIGNS

Protect Habitat

Bycatch

Plastics

View All

CONTACT

Oceana International Headquarters
1025 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20036 USA

General Inquiries
+1(202)-833-3900
info@oceana.org

Donation Inquiries
+1(202)-569-4895
wavemaker@oceana.org

Press Inquiries
+1(202)-833-3900
press@oceana.org

OCEANA'S EFFICIENCY

BECOME A WAVEMAKER

Sign up today to get weekly updates and action alerts from Oceana.

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT WITH A DONATION

We have already protected over 4 million square miles of ocean and innumerable sea life - but there is still more to be done.

Donate Now

QUICK LINKS: