These Seabirds Chase Hurricanes

Birds typically steer clear of hurricanes. Desertas petrels fly straight in.

GPS tracking data from a Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution study shows these pigeon-sized North Atlantic birds actively pursue tropical cyclones, tailing them for days through seas running 26 feet (8 meters) high.

The likely reason is food, and the logic is brutally efficient. These birds eat squid, crustaceans and small fish that spend their days between 660 and 3,300 feet (200 and 1,000 meters) down, well below what a petrel can reach. Researcher Francesco Ventura said a cyclone's churning could drag that prey up to where the birds can get it. The storm does the work; the bird shows up to collect.

Under 200 pairs nest on Bugio, a volcanic island off Madeira, Portugal. During breeding season, individual birds log foraging trips of 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometers) or more across the Atlantic, about a Boston-to-San Francisco round trip. Separately, Woods Hole researchers found that Mediterranean storm petrels off Sardinia prefer energy-costly crosswinds over easier tailwinds, apparently to cut through scent plumes and sniff out food.

Bugio's petrels number under 200 pairs. They fly at the hurricanes anyway.

Read the full story at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, September 14, 2026

Hot Take: Every endurance athlete has had the thought that suffering is just a delivery mechanism for something worth having on the other side. Turns out a pigeon-sized bird with a 5,000-mile commute worked this out well before any of us did, and it doesn't need a mantra on a wall to act on it.