Alaska's coastal and offshore waters provide foraging habitat for an estimated 100 million birds comprising more than 90 different species; from loons and seaducks that nest inland, to petrels and puffins that breed on islands off shore. All these birds depend on the sea to provide a wide variety of food types— from clams, crabs and urchins nearshore— to krill, forage fish, and squid offshore. The availability of nesting habitat and suitable prey are important natural factors that regulate the distribution and abundance of marine birds. But seabird populations are also affected by human activities that have direct impacts (pollution, bycatch in fishing gear) and indirect effects (global warming alters food availability) on birds.
Return to Ecosystems >> Marine Ecosystems
Roles and responsibilities of USGS and DOI in conservation of marine birds and mammals
(Credit: Sarah Schoen, USGS. Public domain.)
The Department of Interior (DOI) is mandated by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Endangered Species Act to conserve and protect all seabirds in U.S. waters up to 200 miles offshore. Additionally, to the DOI is mandated to manage subsistence resources, including birds, under the Federal Subsistence Management Program. The DOI, through the NPS, has shared responsibility for Humpback Whales and other marine mammals mandated by the Marine Mammal Protection Act (1972) and the Endangered Species Act (1973), and specific regulatory and conservation authority within Alaska's Glacier Bay National Park and Monument, one of a few marine sanctuaries managed by DOI. Within DOI, the USGS has a responsibility to assist those DOI agencies with marine jurisdictions (NPS, USFWS, BOEM) by gathering and interpreting data on seabirds and other marine waterfowl, humpback whales and other marine mammals, and relevant components of their marine environments (such as forage fish, zooplankton, oceanography, toxins, etc.) that influence the status and trends of these protected marine animals.
Seabirds also serve as practical indicators of change in the marine environment— natural or human induced— because they can be readily monitored at colonies and at sea. For all these reasons, marine bird research is a vital part of the DOI mission in Alaska and the North Pacific. We study population biology and feeding ecology of a variety of seabird species, including threatened and endangered species. We use a multidisciplinary approach that incorporates study of marine habitats and food webs so that we can better understand why seabird populations fluctuate over time. This website highlights some of the research conducted by the Seabird, Forage Fish and Marine Ecology Project at the Alaska Science Center.
Projects
- Terrestrial Influence on Glacial-marine Food Webs
- Cook Inlet Seabird and Forage Fish Study
- Detecting Long-term Changes in Forage Fish Populations in Prince William Sound, Alaska (Exxon Valdez Oil Spill)
- Harmful algal bloom toxins in Alaska seabirds
- Seabird Die-offs in Alaska
- USGS Research Vessel Alaskan Gyre
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Seabird Die-offs in Alaska
Harmful Algal Bloom Toxins in Alaska Seabirds
North Pacific Pelagic Seabird Database
Cook Inlet Seabird and Forage Fish Study
Detecting Long-term Changes in Forage Fish Populations in Prince William Sound, Alaska
Terrestrial Influence on Glacial-Marine Food Webs
USGS Research Vessel Alaskan Gyre
- Overview
Alaska's coastal and offshore waters provide foraging habitat for an estimated 100 million birds comprising more than 90 different species; from loons and seaducks that nest inland, to petrels and puffins that breed on islands off shore. All these birds depend on the sea to provide a wide variety of food types— from clams, crabs and urchins nearshore— to krill, forage fish, and squid offshore. The availability of nesting habitat and suitable prey are important natural factors that regulate the distribution and abundance of marine birds. But seabird populations are also affected by human activities that have direct impacts (pollution, bycatch in fishing gear) and indirect effects (global warming alters food availability) on birds.
Return to Ecosystems >> Marine Ecosystems
Roles and responsibilities of USGS and DOI in conservation of marine birds and mammals
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Common Murres in a colony in Cook Inlet, Alaska in 2017.
(Credit: Sarah Schoen, USGS. Public domain.)The Department of Interior (DOI) is mandated by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Endangered Species Act to conserve and protect all seabirds in U.S. waters up to 200 miles offshore. Additionally, to the DOI is mandated to manage subsistence resources, including birds, under the Federal Subsistence Management Program. The DOI, through the NPS, has shared responsibility for Humpback Whales and other marine mammals mandated by the Marine Mammal Protection Act (1972) and the Endangered Species Act (1973), and specific regulatory and conservation authority within Alaska's Glacier Bay National Park and Monument, one of a few marine sanctuaries managed by DOI. Within DOI, the USGS has a responsibility to assist those DOI agencies with marine jurisdictions (NPS, USFWS, BOEM) by gathering and interpreting data on seabirds and other marine waterfowl, humpback whales and other marine mammals, and relevant components of their marine environments (such as forage fish, zooplankton, oceanography, toxins, etc.) that influence the status and trends of these protected marine animals.
Seabirds also serve as practical indicators of change in the marine environment— natural or human induced— because they can be readily monitored at colonies and at sea. For all these reasons, marine bird research is a vital part of the DOI mission in Alaska and the North Pacific. We study population biology and feeding ecology of a variety of seabird species, including threatened and endangered species. We use a multidisciplinary approach that incorporates study of marine habitats and food webs so that we can better understand why seabird populations fluctuate over time. This website highlights some of the research conducted by the Seabird, Forage Fish and Marine Ecology Project at the Alaska Science Center.
Projects
- Terrestrial Influence on Glacial-marine Food Webs
- Cook Inlet Seabird and Forage Fish Study
- Detecting Long-term Changes in Forage Fish Populations in Prince William Sound, Alaska (Exxon Valdez Oil Spill)
- Harmful algal bloom toxins in Alaska seabirds
- Seabird Die-offs in Alaska
- USGS Research Vessel Alaskan Gyre
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.The R/V Alaskan Gyre in Katmai National Park, Alaska.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. - Science
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Seabird Die-offs in Alaska
Beginning in 2015, large numbers of dead seabirds have been appearing on beaches in most marine areas of Alaska. Although seabird die-offs are known to occur sporadically (e.g. 1970, 1989, 1993, 1997/1998, and 2004) in Alaska, these recent die-offs have been distinguished from past events by their increased frequency, duration, geographic extent, and number of different species involved.Harmful Algal Bloom Toxins in Alaska Seabirds
Elevated ocean temperatures are linked to the development of harmful algal blooms (HABs). Toxins from these blooms may pose health threats to marine organisms, including seabirds. Since 2015, the USGS has worked with a variety of stakeholders to develop testing methods and research projects to better understand the geographic extent, timing and impacts of algal toxins in Alaska marine ecosystems...North Pacific Pelagic Seabird Database
The North Pacific Pelagic Seabird Database (NPPSD) contains survey transect data designed and conducted by numerous partners primarily to census seabirds at sea. The NPPSD includes more than 486,000 transect segments and includes observations of over 20 million birds of 258 species collected over the span of 50 years (from 1973 to 2022).Cook Inlet Seabird and Forage Fish Study
A massive die-off of Common Murres was documented in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) during the fall and winter of 2015-2016 in association with a record-breaking marine heat wave in the GOA.Detecting Long-term Changes in Forage Fish Populations in Prince William Sound, Alaska
Forage fish are small pelagic schooling fish that play a key role in transferring energy between plankton and top marine predators. Many seabirds, marine mammals, and commercial fish species depend on forage fish to grow and survive.Terrestrial Influence on Glacial-Marine Food Webs
Where glaciers meet the sea in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA), they create unique and productive marine habitats. Ringed by the continent’s tallest coastal mountains, 20% of the GOA coastal watershed is covered by glacial ice and the annual freshwater discharge into the GOA from glacial melt is comparable to that of the Mississippi river.USGS Research Vessel Alaskan Gyre
The R/V Alaskan Gyre is a 50-foot fiberglass seiner that has been converted into a versatile research vessel to provide USGS scientists and collaborators with access to remote marine areas of Alaska and serve as a mobile laboratory. The vessel was built by Ledford Marine of Marysville, Washington in 1989 and is named after the Alaskan Gyre, a series of wind driven currents that rotate counter... - Data
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