Storm Petrel
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understandinguncertainty.org was produced by the Winton programme for the public understanding of risk based in the Statistical Laboratory in the University of Cambridge. The aim was to help improve the way that uncertainty and risk are discussed in society, and show how probability and statistics can be both useful and entertaining.
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Some years ago a friend, then resident in New Zealand, visited Stewart Island off the foot of the southern tip of South Island. At the shore edge, he found a dead storm petrel, which had a ring on its leg. Being a bird enthusiast, he returned the ring to an appropriate authority in the UK.
A few weeks later his parents, also bird watching fanatics, attended a weekend seminar for 'birders' at Aberdeen University. Over a glass of sherry at the welcoming party, they met a man who told them enthusiastically about his passion for bird ringing ..... and , yes, to cut a long story short, this turned out to be the guy who had placed the ring on the storm petrel ! The final twist, was that the ringing was not done in New Zealand, but in Tierra del Fuego at the southern tip of South America, about 3 months before my friend found the bird dead.
Date submitted:Tue, 18 Jun 2013 08:56:23 +0000Coincidence ID:6975
