Low atmospheric pressure is driving tides 42 centimetres above their predicted levels, compressing the exposed mudflats just as shorebird chicks are fledging and most dependent on access to shallow feeding grounds. The persistent surge has shortened the window between high and low water by hours across multiple tide cycles — a critical constraint when young birds are learning to forage on invertebrates concentrated in the briefly exposed substrate.
(Cyanea capillata) appeared inshore yesterday, tracking the warm, slack water that accumulates behind these prolonged high-water stands. Such appearances often signal the conjunction of elevated temperatures and reduced tidal mixing — conditions that can persist for weeks if the low-pressure system remains anchored offshore.
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