Barry Kent MacKayArt and Photo Presentations from All-Creatures.org



Art by Barry Kent MacKay

In this section are copies of original works of art. All of them are dedicated to helping us live according to unconditional love and compassion, which is the foundation of our peaceful means of bringing true and lasting peace to all of God's creatures, whether they are human beings or other animals.

Sooty Shearwater (Ardenna grisea)



(Artwork - 246)
Sooty Shearwater (Ardenna grisea)

The Sooty Shearwater (Ardenna grisea) was first noted by a European in 1789 by Captain James Cook during his second, epic voyage, but not formally described and given a scientific name until 1853. That’s a little odd in that the species is common in the North Atlantic and the North Pacific in summer. In fact this is a bird species that normally only experiences summer because in the fall Sooty Shearwaters, millions of them, depart the northern hemisphere to seek out nesting grounds on historically uninhabited, remote oceanic islands high in the southern latitudes. There could be somewhere between eight and nine million of them, which humans deem to be a lot – somewhat ironic given that there are 8.2 billion of us, each consuming far more than any Sooty Shearwater, a species that weighs in, on average, around 740 grams.

Still, tens of thousands of the fat baby shearwaters are “harvested” each year, to be eaten. They are called “muttonbirds”, and are usually boiled until tender. They are also accidentally caught in fishing nets, including “ghost nets” that have broken loose and drift underwater for years, entangling various aquatic species. And shearwaters are very aquatic, coming to land only to nest, but otherwise spending their lives soaring on wings usually held stiffly, dining on fish, squid, and other small marine organisms at or near the surface. That puts them at risk from oil spills, and as well, there have been mysterious die-offs of thousands of birds thought to have been caused by toxins produced by algae (seaweed). The bottom line is that the species is in decline and notwithstanding the huge flocks of hundreds of thousands of birds sometimes seen offshore, they are now considered to be a species of concern.


Tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus)

As a kid I was taught a charming story, that on a few remote islands off New Zealand the Sooty and other shearwater species co-existed with the Tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus), sharing nesting burrows, birds sleeping in them at night while the nocturnal reptiles were active, and then when the birds were at sea the Tuatara would use the burrow. In fact, Tuataras sometimes eat baby shearwaters, and the whole story was somewhat mythical. But not the Tuatara, a “primitive” reptile species that has changed little from ancestors who lived in ancient time, even before dinosaurs evolved. Tuataras are found only on a very few islands. They are famous for having, when young, a third, or parietal, eye, quite complete, in the middle of the forehead. It has a retina, lens, and optic nerve, but is covered by a thin layer of skin, and is absorbed into the head as the animal matures. The Tuatara has been eradicated from the New Zealand mainland (with efforts to re-introduce it to North Island showing early signs of success) but is still found on dozens of small, offshore islands, and has long been fully protected by law.

And I put quotation marks around “primitive” because the Tuatara is actually just as contemporary, thus modern, as we are, and, interestingly, has found to have something between five and six billion base pairs of DNA sequences, or very nearly twice what is found in us! They have been around for a very long time. My painting is in oils on a birch panel approximately 24 X 16 inches. I’ve added an old pen and ink drawing of a Sooty Shearwater I did decades ago.

arrow-Tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus)Previous | Art by Barry Kent MacKay | Nextarrow-next

Return to Art by Barry Kent MacKay - Page 5

Copyright © Barry Kent MacKay
Barry describes himself as a Canadian artist/writer/naturalist.

For purchasing of original art, prints and other products GO HERE.

Return to Art by Barry Kent MacKay
Return to Art By Various Artists
Return to Art and Photo Journals and Galleries