Several hundred black, gull-like shearwaters died after flying into a crabbing boat that steamed through the early morning darkness in Unalaska Bay on Wednesday morning, said Forrest Bowers, a fisheries biologist for the state Department of Fish and Game in Unalaska.
The captain of the boat walked into Bowers' office that day to report that a hail of shearwaters struck his boat for up to 30 minutes, Bowers said. The crew pitched the dead and dying birds overboard, the captain said, according to Bowers.