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
Below are data or web applications associated with this project.
Seabird Diet Data Collected on Middleton Island, Gulf of Alaska
Gridded Seabird Density Estimates in Lower Cook Inlet, Alaska
Assessing the Status and Trends of Seabirds and Forage Fish in Lower Cook Inlet, Alaska
Pelagic Forage Fish Distribution Abundance and Body Condition
North Pacific Pelagic Seabird Database (NPPSD)
Data from Common Murre Die-off Surveys and Necropsies Following the North Pacific Marine Heatwave, 2015-2016
USGS Alaska Science Center Wildlife Tracking Data Collection
Below are the publications associated with this project.
Joint spatiotemporal models to predict seabird densities at sea
Lingering impacts of the 2014-2016 northeast Pacific marine heatwave on seabird demography in Cook Inlet, Alaska (USA)
Melanism in a Common Murre Uria aalge in Kachemak Bay, Alaska
Integrating seabird dietary and groundfish stock assessment data: Can puffins predict pollock spawning stock biomass in the North Pacific?
Monitoring the recovery of seabirds and forage fish following a major ecosystem disruption in Lower Cook Inlet
Ecosystem response persists after a prolonged marine heatwave
Heatwave-induced synchrony within forage fish portfolio disrupts energy flow to top pelagic predators
Forecasting community reassembly using climate-linked spatio-temporal ecosystem models
Seabird‐induced natural mortality of forage fish varies with fish abundance: Evidence from five ecosystems
Can oceanic prey effects on growth and time to fledging mediate terrestrial predator limitation of an at‐risk seabird?
Extreme mortality and reproductive failure of common murres resulting from the northeast Pacific marine heatwave of 2014-2016
Spatial and temporal dynamics of Pacific capelin Mallotus catervarius in the Gulf of Alaska: Implications for ecosystem-based fisheries management
Tagged Animal Movement - Seabirds
This project contains data collected by the Argos System from satellite transmitters attached to 23 Common Murre, 36 Kittlitz's Murrelets, 1 Larus species, 8 Herring Gull, 9 Glaucous-winged Gull, 19 Glaucous Gull, 19 Northern Fulmar, 8 Pelagic Cormorant, 1 Red-faced Cormorant, 11 Thick-billed Murre, and 2 Tufted Puffin. Birds were tracked along Alaska, the contiguous US, parts of Asia and Russia.
Below are news items associated with this research.
- 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
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
- 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
Below are data or web applications associated with this project.
Seabird Diet Data Collected on Middleton Island, Gulf of Alaska
These data are part of the Gulf Watch Alaska (GWA) long-term monitoring program and contain diet data from Black-legged Kittiwakes (BLKI), Rhinoceros Auklets (RHAU), and Tufted puffins (TUPU) located on Middleton Island in Prince William Sound, Gulf of Alaska. The first table consists of information on seabird diet samples including the sampling method and number of prey types identified per samplGridded Seabird Density Estimates in Lower Cook Inlet, Alaska
This data set provides monthly (March-October) gridded density estimates for seabirds in lower Cook Inlet, Alaska. Gridded density estimates were produced by applying spatiotemporal modeling of at-sea survey data collected between 1975 and 2021 of seabird at-sea surveys available in the North Pacific Pelagic Seabird Database (NPPSD; Drew and Piatt 2015). We modeled joint dynamic species distributiAssessing the Status and Trends of Seabirds and Forage Fish in Lower Cook Inlet, Alaska
This data release is composed of six datasets regarding colonial seabirds and forage fish at two seabird nesting colonies on Gull and Chisik Islands in lower Cook Inlet, Alaska. These data were collected to detect changes in the breeding population of Black-legged Kittiwakes and Common Murres on two nesting colonies in lower Cook Inlet and to compare those counts to baseline counts from 1995-1999.Pelagic Forage Fish Distribution Abundance and Body Condition
Monitoring long-term changes in forage fish distribution, abundance and body condition in the Prince William Sound 2012-2019.North Pacific Pelagic Seabird Database (NPPSD)
The North Pacific Pelagic Seabird Database (NPPSD) is maintained by the USGS Alaska Science Center and includes survey transect data designed and conducted by numerous partners primarily to census seabirds at sea. The data provided here relate to observations of marine birds and mammals observed during at-sea surveys throughout the North Pacific including the Arctic Ocean, Beaufort Sea, Chukchi SeData from Common Murre Die-off Surveys and Necropsies Following the North Pacific Marine Heatwave, 2015-2016
These data are in two tables relating to a die-off of Common Murres in the north Pacific, 2015-2016. The tables provide: 1) beach survey locations, date, time, distance surveyed (kilometers), and number of Common Murre carcasses observed during surveys conducted along the coastline of Alaska to document the 2015-2016 die-off of Common Murres coincident with the North Pacific marine heatwave, and 2USGS Alaska Science Center Wildlife Tracking Data Collection
Understanding the short- and long-distance movements of wildlife is critical for a wide variety of ecological research studies and management decisions. Since the mid-1980s, the USGS Alaska Science Center has collected data from wildlife tracking devices to: determine locations of animals throughout their annual cycles, understand patterns of habitat use, quantify time spent on various behaviors, - Multimedia
- Publications
Below are the publications associated with this project.
Filter Total Items: 46Joint spatiotemporal models to predict seabird densities at sea
Introduction: Seabirds are abundant, conspicuous members of marine ecosystems worldwide. Synthesis of distribution data compiled over time is required to address regional management issues and understand ecosystem change. Major challenges when estimating seabird densities at sea arise from variability in dispersion of the birds, sampling effort over time and space, and differences in bird detectioAuthorsMayumi L. Arimitsu, John F. Piatt, James Thorson, Kathy Kuletz, Gary Drew, Sarah K. Schoen, Dan Cushing, Caitlin Kroeger, William SydemanLingering impacts of the 2014-2016 northeast Pacific marine heatwave on seabird demography in Cook Inlet, Alaska (USA)
A protracted period (2014-2016) of anomalously warm water in the northeast Pacific Ocean precipitated an extensive die-off of common murres Uria aalge (hereafter ‘murres’) during 2015-2016, accompanied by reduced colony attendance and reproductive success of murres and black-legged kittiwakes Rissa tridactyla (‘kittiwakes’) starting in 2015. Most murres died of starvation following a large-scale rAuthorsSarah K. Schoen, Mayumi L. Arimitsu, Caitlin Elizabeth Marsteller, John F. PiattMelanism in a Common Murre Uria aalge in Kachemak Bay, Alaska
In accord with melanism being uncommon in birds, we could find only six published records of completely melanistic Common Murres Uria aalge, one of the most widely and intensively studied of all seabirds. We added to the record by observing a Common Murre in completely dark, melanistic alternate plumage every summer from 2017 to 2021 at Gull Island in Kachemak Bay, Alaska, USA. In 2017, the bird fAuthorsSarah K. Schoen, Mayumi L. Arimitsu, Caitlin Elizabeth Marsteller, Brielle M. HeflinIntegrating seabird dietary and groundfish stock assessment data: Can puffins predict pollock spawning stock biomass in the North Pacific?
Information on the annual variability in abundance and growth of juvenile groundfish can be useful for predicting fisheries stocks, but is often poorly known owing to difficulties in sampling fish in their first year of life. In the Western Gulf of Alaska (WGoA) and Eastern Bering Sea (EBS) ecosystems, three species of puffin (tufted and horned puffin, Fratercula cirrhata, Fratercula corniculata,AuthorsWilliam J. Sydeman, Sarah Ann Thompson, John F. Piatt, Stephani Zador, Martin W. DornMonitoring the recovery of seabirds and forage fish following a major ecosystem disruption in Lower Cook Inlet
Following the North Pacific marine heatwave of 2014-2016 and associated extreme die-off of seabirds in the winter of 2015-2016, we repeated historical marine bird and forage fish surveys around two seabird colonies (Gull Island, Chisik Island) in lower Cook Inlet during 2016-2019 in order to document immediate and lingering impacts of the heatwave on resident fish and seabird populations. At sea,AuthorsMayumi L. Arimitsu, Sarah K. Schoen, John F. Piatt, Caitlin Elizabeth Marsteller, Gary S. DrewEcosystem response persists after a prolonged marine heatwave
Some of the longest and most comprehensive marine ecosystem monitoring programs were established in the Gulf of Alaska following the environmental disaster of the Exxon Valdez oil spill over 30 years ago. These monitoring programs have been successful in assessing recovery from oil spill impacts, and their continuation decades later has now provided an unparalleled assessment of ecosystem responseAuthorsRobert M. Suryan, Mayumi L. Arimitsu, Heather A. Coletti, Russell R. Hopcroft, Mandy Lindeberg, Steven J. Barbeaux, Sonia Batten, William J. Burt, Mary Anne Bishop, James L. Bodkin, R. Brenner, Robert W. Campbell, Daniel A. Cushing, Seth L. Danielson, Martin W. Dorn, Brie Drummond, Daniel Esler, Thomas S. Gelatt, Dana H. Hanselman, Katrin Iken, David B. Irons, Scott A. Hatch, Stormy Haught, Kris Holderied, David G. Kimmel, Brenda H. Konar, Kathy J. Kuletz, Arthur B. Kettle, Benjamin J. Laurel, John M. Maniscalco, Daniel Monson, Craig O. Matkin, Caitlin McKinstry, John Moran, D. Olsen, John F. Piatt, Wayne A. Palsson, W. Scott Pegau, Lauren A. Rogers, Nora A. Rojek, Anne Schaefer, Ingrid B. Spies, J.M. Straley, Suzanne L. Strom, Marysia Szymkowiak, Ben P. Weitzman, Kathryn L. Sweeney, Ellen M. Yasumiishi, Stephanie ZadorHeatwave-induced synchrony within forage fish portfolio disrupts energy flow to top pelagic predators
During the Pacific marine heatwave of 2014–2016, abundance and quality of several key forage fish species in the Gulf of Alaska were simultaneously reduced throughout the system. Capelin (Mallotus catervarius), sand lance (Ammodytes personatus), and herring (Clupea pallasii) populations were at historically low levels, and within this community abrupt declines in portfolio effects identify trophicAuthorsMayumi L. Arimitsu, John F. Piatt, Scott Hatch, Robert M. Suryan, Sonia Batten, Mary Anne Bishop, Rob W. Campbell, Heather Coletti, Dan Cushing, Kristen Gorman, Russell R. Hopcroft, Kathy J. Kuletz, Caitlin Elizabeth Marsteller, Caitlin McKinstry, David McGowan, John Moran, W. Scott Pegau, Anne Schaefer, Sarah K. Schoen, Jan Straley, Vanessa R. von BielaForecasting community reassembly using climate-linked spatio-temporal ecosystem models
Ecosystems are increasingly impacted by human activities, altering linkages among physical and biological components. Spatial community reassembly occurs when these human impacts modify the spatial overlap between system components, and there is need for practical tools to forecast spatial community reassembly at landscape scales using monitoring data. To illustrate a new approach, we extend a genAuthorsJames Thorson, Mayumi L. Arimitsu, Lewis Barnett, Wei Cheng, Lisa Eisner, Alan Haynie, Albert Hermann, Kirsten Holsman, David Kimmel, Michael Lomas, Jon Richar, Elizabeth SiddonSeabird‐induced natural mortality of forage fish varies with fish abundance: Evidence from five ecosystems
Forage fish populations often undergo large and rapid fluctuations in abundance. However, most of their predators are buffered against such fluctuations owing to their slower pace of life, which allows them to maintain more stable populations, at least during short periods of food scarcity. In this study, we investigated top‐down processes exerted by seabirds on forage fish stocks in five contrastAuthorsClaire Saraux, William J. Sydeman, John F. Piatt, Tycho Anker-Nilssen, Jonas Hentati-Sundberg, Sophie Bertrand, Philippe M. Cury, Robert W. Furness, James A. Miller, Henrik Österblom, Giannina Passuni, Jean-Paul Roux, Lynne Shannon, Robert J.M. CrawfordCan oceanic prey effects on growth and time to fledging mediate terrestrial predator limitation of an at‐risk seabird?
Most seabird species nest colonially on cliffs or islands with limited terrestrial predation, so that oceanic effects on the quality or quantity of prey fed to chicks more often determine nest success. However, when predator access increases, impacts can be dramatic, especially when exposure to predators is extended due to slow growth from inadequate food. Kittlitz’s Murrelet (Brachyramphus brevirAuthorsTimothy Knudson, James R. Lovvorn, M. James Lawonn, Robin Corcoran, Dan Roby, John F. Piatt, William PyleExtreme mortality and reproductive failure of common murres resulting from the northeast Pacific marine heatwave of 2014-2016
About 62,000 dead or dying common murres (Uria aalge), the trophically dominant fish-eating seabird of the North Pacific, washed ashore between summer 2015 and spring 2016 on beaches from California to Alaska. Most birds were severely emaciated and, so far, no evidence for anything other than starvation was found to explain this mass mortality. Three-quarters of murres were found in the Gulf of AlAuthorsJohn F. Piatt, Julia K. Parrish, Heather M. Renner, Sarah K. Schoen, Timothy Jones, Mayumi L. Arimitsu, Kathy J. Kuletz, Barbara Bodenstein, Marisol Garcia-Reyes, Rebecca Duerr, Robin Corcoran, Robb S.A. Kaler, Gerard J. McChesney, Richard T. Golightly, Heather A. Coletti, Robert M. Suryan, Hillary K. Burgess, Jackie Lindsey, Kirsten Lindquist, Peter Warzybok, Jaime Jahncke, Jan Roletto, William J. SydemanSpatial and temporal dynamics of Pacific capelin Mallotus catervarius in the Gulf of Alaska: Implications for ecosystem-based fisheries management
Pacific capelin Mallotus catervarius are planktivorous, small pelagic fish that serve an intermediate trophic role in marine food webs. Due to the lack of a directed fishery or monitoring of capelin in the Northeast Pacific, there is limited information on their distribution and abundance, and how spatio-temporal fluctuations in capelin density affects their availability as prey. To provide informAuthorsDavid W. McGowan, Esther Goldstein, Mayumi L. Arimitsu, Alison Dreary, Olav Ormseth, Alex DeRobertis, John Horne, Lauren Rogers, Matt Wilson, Kenneth Coyle, Kris Holderied, John F. Piatt, W.T. Stockhausen, Stephani Zador - Web Tools
Tagged Animal Movement - Seabirds
This project contains data collected by the Argos System from satellite transmitters attached to 23 Common Murre, 36 Kittlitz's Murrelets, 1 Larus species, 8 Herring Gull, 9 Glaucous-winged Gull, 19 Glaucous Gull, 19 Northern Fulmar, 8 Pelagic Cormorant, 1 Red-faced Cormorant, 11 Thick-billed Murre, and 2 Tufted Puffin. Birds were tracked along Alaska, the contiguous US, parts of Asia and Russia.
- News
Below are news items associated with this research.