The recent hurricanes have brought strange weather to the Maine coast and, along with the Canadian wildfires, have made for some oddly both foggy and hazy days interspersed with some blustery and wavy moments thanks to the storms and the super moon–induced extra tides. All of this unsettled weather would make most creatures hunker down indoors and wait for fairer skies. But other creatures actually wait for the big storms and fly right into them.

Across the Atlantic, Desertas petrels have been documented to chase storms off the coast of Portugal. These fearless seabirds take advantage of the stirring up of the water to bring their prey closer to the surface. The Desertas petrel’s scientific name, Pterodroma, means “wings on the run.” However, rather than run from a storm, it flies right into it. Apparently, the “on the run” description refers to the fact that these large seabirds fly for thousands of miles around and across the northern Atlantic in search of food, sometimes going for several weeks without success. Perhaps that’s part of their motivation to fly into a storm — for the rare opportunity to get access to lots of tasty crustaceans and small fish that typically are found deep beneath the surface. When their prey is that deep, the petrels have to wait until nightfall for them to surface. Otherwise, they’d have to dive down sometimes up to 3,000 feet to get them. So, they brave storm-driven waves that can be around 20 feet and winds around 60 mph. How they do this without being injured is impressive, deftly adjusting their speed and utilizing trailing winds to enter and exit the storm.

These storm chasers, while brave, may get more than food once they have caught up to the storm. If you’re familiar with David Wilcox’s folk song “Eye of the Hurricane,” or maybe just the phrase itself, it has probably already crossed your mind that the center of the storm holds an unusual space of calm. Apparently, one of these intrepid petrels followed a cyclone for thousands of kilometers over several days to reach the bounty of food as well as this respite at its center.

While this is an impressive feat, the piece of the story that struck me most was the glee expressed by the scientists who documented this behavior — no doubt after years of tracking these birds without anything stunning to report. “When we saw the data, we nearly fell off our chairs,” said Francesco Ventura, lead author of the study recently published in Current Biology.

Although Desertas petrels have a wide range in the northern Atlantic, that does not include Maine. We do, however, have petrels that live here. One very sweet little local species is the Leach’s storm petrel (Hydrobates leucorhous), measuring only 7-8 inches in length, as compared to the Desertas petrel’s larger 10-inch size, but sporting similar dark plumage with  a white area by its tail. Students at Bowdoin College have been studying this little bird since the 1930s at the college’s scientific research station on Kent Island in Canada’s Bay of Fundy. They are an interesting long-term species to study because they live so long — typically around 25 years. For years, this study has all been done by hand, with students and researchers banding the birds and monitoring their movements around the island as well as in and out of their nests. However, like the prey of the Desertas petrel, Leach’s storm petrels nest beneath the surface — underground. Previously, it was difficult to know when they were coming and going, but thanks to Bowdoin College’s new 3D printing lab, researchers were able to create small tubes equipped with sensors that weigh the birds as they go in and out. This season, nearly 30 of these sensor-equipped tubes helped the research team to learn more about these petrels.

Hopefully, the storms will soon subside and the skies will clear. But in the meantime, take heart that these birds have found an advantage from the storms’ stirrings that may, ironically, give them a little rest as well.

Susan Olcott is director of strategic initiatives for Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association.