A Common Murre feeds its chick a capelin at the Gull Island breeding colony in Kachemak Bay, Alaska. Capelin are an important, energy rich forage fish for many marine predators.
Seabirds and Forage Fish Ecology Active
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
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, 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
- Tidewater Glacier Influence on Marine Ecosystems
- 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
- North Pacific Pelagic Seabird Database
- Pacific Marine Heatwave
- Seabird Die-offs in Alaska
- USGS Research Vessel Alaskan Gyre
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Tidewater Glacier Influence on Marine Ecosystems
Harmful Algal Bloom Toxins in Alaska Seabirds
Cook Inlet Seabird and Forage Fish Study
Detecting Long-term Changes in Forage Fish Populations in Prince William Sound, Alaska
Seabird Die-offs in Alaska
North Pacific Pelagic Seabird Database
USGS Research Vessel Alaskan Gyre
Below are data or web applications associated with this project.
Alaska Forage Fish Database (AFFD)
Age-0 Sablefish Size and Growth Indices from Seabird Diets at Middleton Island, Alaska
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
Tracking Data for Kittlitz's Murrelet (Brachyramphus brevirostris)
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 multimedia items associated with this project.
A Common Murre feeds its chick a capelin at the Gull Island breeding colony in Kachemak Bay, Alaska. Capelin are an important, energy rich forage fish for many marine predators.
A melanistic (all dark) Common Murre holds a display fish at its breeding site on Gull Island in Kachemak Bay, Alaska, 2019. See related paper published in the Marine Ornithology: Journal of Seabird Research and Conservation at: http://www.marineornithology.org/PDF/50_2/50_2_225-227.p
A melanistic (all dark) Common Murre holds a display fish at its breeding site on Gull Island in Kachemak Bay, Alaska, 2019. See related paper published in the Marine Ornithology: Journal of Seabird Research and Conservation at: http://www.marineornithology.org/PDF/50_2/50_2_225-227.p
A melanistic (all dark) Common Murre flies above the Gull Island breeding colony in Kachemak Bay, Alaska, 2018. See related paper published in the Marine Ornithology: Journal of Seabird Research and Conservation at: http://www.marineornithology.org/PDF/50_2/50_2_225-227.pdf.
A melanistic (all dark) Common Murre flies above the Gull Island breeding colony in Kachemak Bay, Alaska, 2018. See related paper published in the Marine Ornithology: Journal of Seabird Research and Conservation at: http://www.marineornithology.org/PDF/50_2/50_2_225-227.pdf.
A Common Murre holding a capelin at a breeding colony on Gull Island, in Kachemak Bay, Alaska. Capelin are an important, energy rich forage fish for many marine predators.
A Common Murre holding a capelin at a breeding colony on Gull Island, in Kachemak Bay, Alaska. Capelin are an important, energy rich forage fish for many marine predators.
A Tufted Puffin carrying a bill load of capelin back to its chick on Gull Island, in Kachemak Bay, Alaska. Capelin are an important, energy rich forage fish for many marine predators.
A Tufted Puffin carrying a bill load of capelin back to its chick on Gull Island, in Kachemak Bay, Alaska. Capelin are an important, energy rich forage fish for many marine predators.
A Tufted Puffin flies over the Gull Island breeding colony in Kachemak Bay, Alaska.
A Tufted Puffin flies over the Gull Island breeding colony in Kachemak Bay, Alaska.
A pair of Tufted Puffins stand above their burrows on the Gull Island breeding colony in Kachemak Bay, Alaska.
A pair of Tufted Puffins stand above their burrows on the Gull Island breeding colony in Kachemak Bay, Alaska.
A pair of Horned Puffins on the Gull Island breeding colony in Kachemak Bay, Alaska.
A pair of Horned Puffins on the Gull Island breeding colony in Kachemak Bay, Alaska.
Glaucous-winged Gulls fight over a Pacific Herring near Gull Island in Kachemak Bay, Alaska.
Glaucous-winged Gulls fight over a Pacific Herring near Gull Island in Kachemak Bay, Alaska.
A juvenile Marbled Murrelet near Gull Island in Kachemak Bay, Alaska. The Marbled Murrelet spends most of its life at sea, coming to land only in the summer to nest.
A juvenile Marbled Murrelet near Gull Island in Kachemak Bay, Alaska. The Marbled Murrelet spends most of its life at sea, coming to land only in the summer to nest.
Four Tufted Puffins on the water, near their breeding colony at Gull Island in Kachemak Bay, Alaska
Four Tufted Puffins on the water, near their breeding colony at Gull Island in Kachemak Bay, Alaska
Arctic Terns in Cook Inlet, Alaska. There is bullwhip kelp on the surface of the water.
Arctic Terns in Cook Inlet, Alaska. There is bullwhip kelp on the surface of the water.
A Bald Eagle flies off with a Black-legged Kittiwake from a colony on Gull Island in Kachemak Bay, Alaska
A Bald Eagle flies off with a Black-legged Kittiwake from a colony on Gull Island in Kachemak Bay, Alaska
A Bald Eagle flies off with a Black-legged Kittiwake from Gull Island in Kachemak Bay, Alaska
A Bald Eagle flies off with a Black-legged Kittiwake from Gull Island in Kachemak Bay, Alaska
Two Common Murre chicks on rock ledge at Gull Island, Alaska.
Two Common Murre chicks on rock ledge at Gull Island, Alaska.
A Black-legged Kittiwake with two chicks at Gull Island, Alaska.
A Black-legged Kittiwake with two chicks at Gull Island, Alaska.
A melanistic (all dark) Common Murre at its nesting site on Gull Island in Kachemak Bay, Alaska, 2019. See related paper published in the Marine Ornithology: Journal of Seabird Research and Conservation at: http://www.marineornithology.org/PDF/50_2/50_2_225-227.pdf.
A melanistic (all dark) Common Murre at its nesting site on Gull Island in Kachemak Bay, Alaska, 2019. See related paper published in the Marine Ornithology: Journal of Seabird Research and Conservation at: http://www.marineornithology.org/PDF/50_2/50_2_225-227.pdf.
A Bald Eagle disturbs Black-legged Kittiwakes nesting on Gull Island, Alaska.
A Bald Eagle disturbs Black-legged Kittiwakes nesting on Gull Island, Alaska.
Common Murres on the water near their colony at Gull Island, Alaska.
Common Murres on the water near their colony at Gull Island, Alaska.
A Common Murre carries a Pacific sand lance, one of the most common prey items for murres, near its colony at Gull Island, Alaska.
A Common Murre carries a Pacific sand lance, one of the most common prey items for murres, near its colony at Gull Island, Alaska.
Below are the publications associated with this project.
Age-0 sablefish size and growth indices from seabird diets at Middleton Island, Gulf of Alaska
Climate change and pulse migration: Intermittent Chugach Inuit occupation of glacial fiords on the Kenai Coast, Alaska
Gulf watch Alaska: Long-term research and monitoring in the Gulf of Alaska
Reduction in overwinter body condition and size of Pacific sand lance has implications for piscivorous predators during marine heatwaves
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
Diet analysis using generalized linear models derived from foraging processes using R package mvtweedie
Kittlitz’s murrelet seasonal distribution and post-breeding migration from the Gulf of Alaska to the Arctic Ocean
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
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
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, 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
- Tidewater Glacier Influence on Marine Ecosystems
- 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
- North Pacific Pelagic Seabird Database
- Pacific Marine Heatwave
- Seabird Die-offs in Alaska
- USGS Research Vessel Alaskan Gyre
- Science
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Tidewater Glacier Influence on Marine Ecosystems
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.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...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.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.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).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.
Alaska Forage Fish Database (AFFD)
The Alaska Forage Fish Database (AFFD) is a consolidation of survey data from multiple agencies that were sampled via fishing gear and predator diets. The spatial coverage includes the Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands, Chukchi Sea, and Beaufort Sea. Fish species within the database include Pacific sand lance, Pacific capelin, Pacific herring, juvenile walleye pollock and Pacific cod, mAge-0 Sablefish Size and Growth Indices from Seabird Diets at Middleton Island, Alaska
This dataset provides annual summaries of information on age-0 sablefish in Rhinoceros Auklet (Cerorhinca monocerata) chick diets from Middleton Island, Alaska. This includes number of diet samples, number of sablefish sampled, proportion of total biomass, catch per unit effort, and frequency of occurrence for each year. We calculated an annual growth index for age-0 sablefish using the relationSeabird 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 seven 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 1995-199Tracking Data for Kittlitz's Murrelet (Brachyramphus brevirostris)
This metadata document describes the data contained in the "rawData" folder of this data package. This data package contains all data collected by the Argos System from 47 satellite transmitters attached to Kittlitz's Murrelets captured along the north Gulf of Alaska, during May-July 2009-2015. Five data files are included in the "rawData" folder of this data package. Two data files (with identicaPelagic 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
Below are multimedia items associated with this project.
Filter Total Items: 118Common Murre feeds chickA Common Murre feeds its chick a capelin at the Gull Island breeding colony in Kachemak Bay, Alaska. Capelin are an important, energy rich forage fish for many marine predators.
A Common Murre feeds its chick a capelin at the Gull Island breeding colony in Kachemak Bay, Alaska. Capelin are an important, energy rich forage fish for many marine predators.
Melanistic Common Murre holds a display fishA melanistic (all dark) Common Murre holds a display fish at its breeding site on Gull Island in Kachemak Bay, Alaska, 2019. See related paper published in the Marine Ornithology: Journal of Seabird Research and Conservation at: http://www.marineornithology.org/PDF/50_2/50_2_225-227.p
A melanistic (all dark) Common Murre holds a display fish at its breeding site on Gull Island in Kachemak Bay, Alaska, 2019. See related paper published in the Marine Ornithology: Journal of Seabird Research and Conservation at: http://www.marineornithology.org/PDF/50_2/50_2_225-227.p
Melanistic Common Murre flies above Gull IslandA melanistic (all dark) Common Murre flies above the Gull Island breeding colony in Kachemak Bay, Alaska, 2018. See related paper published in the Marine Ornithology: Journal of Seabird Research and Conservation at: http://www.marineornithology.org/PDF/50_2/50_2_225-227.pdf.
A melanistic (all dark) Common Murre flies above the Gull Island breeding colony in Kachemak Bay, Alaska, 2018. See related paper published in the Marine Ornithology: Journal of Seabird Research and Conservation at: http://www.marineornithology.org/PDF/50_2/50_2_225-227.pdf.
Common Murre holding a capelinA Common Murre holding a capelin at a breeding colony on Gull Island, in Kachemak Bay, Alaska. Capelin are an important, energy rich forage fish for many marine predators.
A Common Murre holding a capelin at a breeding colony on Gull Island, in Kachemak Bay, Alaska. Capelin are an important, energy rich forage fish for many marine predators.
Tufted Puffin carrying capelinA Tufted Puffin carrying a bill load of capelin back to its chick on Gull Island, in Kachemak Bay, Alaska. Capelin are an important, energy rich forage fish for many marine predators.
A Tufted Puffin carrying a bill load of capelin back to its chick on Gull Island, in Kachemak Bay, Alaska. Capelin are an important, energy rich forage fish for many marine predators.
A Tufted Puffin flies over Gull IslandA Tufted Puffin flies over the Gull Island breeding colony in Kachemak Bay, Alaska.
A Tufted Puffin flies over the Gull Island breeding colony in Kachemak Bay, Alaska.
Tufted Puffins on Gull IslandA pair of Tufted Puffins stand above their burrows on the Gull Island breeding colony in Kachemak Bay, Alaska.
A pair of Tufted Puffins stand above their burrows on the Gull Island breeding colony in Kachemak Bay, Alaska.
Horned Puffins on Gull IslandA pair of Horned Puffins on the Gull Island breeding colony in Kachemak Bay, Alaska.
A pair of Horned Puffins on the Gull Island breeding colony in Kachemak Bay, Alaska.
Skinny Common MurresSkinny Common MurresSkinny Common MurresGlaucous-winged Gulls fight over a Pacific HerringGlaucous-winged Gulls fight over a Pacific HerringGlaucous-winged Gulls fight over a Pacific Herring near Gull Island in Kachemak Bay, Alaska.
Glaucous-winged Gulls fight over a Pacific Herring near Gull Island in Kachemak Bay, Alaska.
A juvenile Marbled Murrelet, AlaskaA juvenile Marbled Murrelet near Gull Island in Kachemak Bay, Alaska. The Marbled Murrelet spends most of its life at sea, coming to land only in the summer to nest.
A juvenile Marbled Murrelet near Gull Island in Kachemak Bay, Alaska. The Marbled Murrelet spends most of its life at sea, coming to land only in the summer to nest.
Tufted Puffins on the water, AlaskaFour Tufted Puffins on the water, near their breeding colony at Gull Island in Kachemak Bay, Alaska
Four Tufted Puffins on the water, near their breeding colony at Gull Island in Kachemak Bay, Alaska
Arctic Terns in Cook Inlet, AlaskaArctic Terns in Cook Inlet, Alaska. There is bullwhip kelp on the surface of the water.
Arctic Terns in Cook Inlet, Alaska. There is bullwhip kelp on the surface of the water.
A Bald Eagle flies off with a Black-legged Kittiwake, AlaskaA Bald Eagle flies off with a Black-legged Kittiwake, AlaskaA Bald Eagle flies off with a Black-legged Kittiwake from a colony on Gull Island in Kachemak Bay, Alaska
A Bald Eagle flies off with a Black-legged Kittiwake from a colony on Gull Island in Kachemak Bay, Alaska
A Bald Eagle flies off with a Black-legged KittiwakeA Bald Eagle flies off with a Black-legged KittiwakeA Bald Eagle flies off with a Black-legged Kittiwake from Gull Island in Kachemak Bay, Alaska
A Bald Eagle flies off with a Black-legged Kittiwake from Gull Island in Kachemak Bay, Alaska
Two Common Murre chicksTwo Common Murre chicks on rock ledge at Gull Island, Alaska.
Two Common Murre chicks on rock ledge at Gull Island, Alaska.
A Black-legged Kittiwake with two chicks at Gull Island, AlaskaA Black-legged Kittiwake with two chicks at Gull Island, AlaskaA Black-legged Kittiwake with two chicks at Gull Island, Alaska.
A Black-legged Kittiwake with two chicks at Gull Island, Alaska.
Melanistic Common Murre at its nesting siteA melanistic (all dark) Common Murre at its nesting site on Gull Island in Kachemak Bay, Alaska, 2019. See related paper published in the Marine Ornithology: Journal of Seabird Research and Conservation at: http://www.marineornithology.org/PDF/50_2/50_2_225-227.pdf.
A melanistic (all dark) Common Murre at its nesting site on Gull Island in Kachemak Bay, Alaska, 2019. See related paper published in the Marine Ornithology: Journal of Seabird Research and Conservation at: http://www.marineornithology.org/PDF/50_2/50_2_225-227.pdf.
A Bald Eagle disturbs nesting Black-legged KittiwakesA Bald Eagle disturbs nesting Black-legged KittiwakesA Bald Eagle disturbs Black-legged Kittiwakes nesting on Gull Island, Alaska.
A Bald Eagle disturbs Black-legged Kittiwakes nesting on Gull Island, Alaska.
Common Murres on the water near their colony at Gull Island, AlaskaCommon Murres on the water near their colony at Gull Island, AlaskaCommon Murres on the water near their colony at Gull Island, Alaska.
Common Murres on the water near their colony at Gull Island, Alaska.
A Common Murre carries a Pacific sand lanceA Common Murre carries a Pacific sand lance, one of the most common prey items for murres, near its colony at Gull Island, Alaska.
A Common Murre carries a Pacific sand lance, one of the most common prey items for murres, near its colony at Gull Island, Alaska.
- Publications
Below are the publications associated with this project.
Filter Total Items: 52Age-0 sablefish size and growth indices from seabird diets at Middleton Island, Gulf of Alaska
Sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria) is a commercially valuable groundfish species in Alaska, with the population assessed annually by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Alaska Fisheries Science Center. Sablefish recruit into the commercially fished population at 2 years old and are poorly sampled by most surveys before that age. However, information on the abundance, distribution, andAuthorsMayumi L. Arimitsu, Scott A. HatchClimate change and pulse migration: Intermittent Chugach Inuit occupation of glacial fiords on the Kenai Coast, Alaska
For millennia, Inuit peoples of the Arctic and Subarctic have been challenged by the impacts of climate change on the abundance of key subsistence species. Responses to climate-induced declines in animal populations included switching to alternative food sources and/or migrating to regions of greater availability. We examine these dynamics for the Chugach Inuit (Sugpiat) people of southern coastalAuthorsAron Crowell, Mayumi L. ArimitsuGulf watch Alaska: Long-term research and monitoring in the Gulf of Alaska
Within the Gulf of Alaska, in the North Pacific Ocean, three major events - both natural and human-caused – resulted in large-scale ecosystem changes during the last 50 yearsAuthorsRobert M. Suryan, Mandy Lindeberg, Mayumi L. Arimitsu, Daniel Esler, Heather Coletti, Russell Hopcroft, W. Scott PegauReduction in overwinter body condition and size of Pacific sand lance has implications for piscivorous predators during marine heatwaves
Acute anomalous ocean warming events, including marine heatwaves (MHWs), have significant effects on reproduction and survival of piscivorous seabirds. Additionally, MHWs have negative effects on seabird fish prey, exacerbating these consequences and resulting in population implications for seabirds. We evaluated the relative body condition of Pacific sand lance Ammodytes personatus, an importantAuthorsClifford LK Robinson, Douglas F Bertram, Hayleigh Shannon, Vanessa R. von Biela, Wesley Greentree, William Duguird, Mayumi L. ArimitsuJoint 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. HeflinDiet analysis using generalized linear models derived from foraging processes using R package mvtweedie
Diet analysis integrates a wide variety of visual, chemical, and biological identification of prey. Samples are often treated as compositional data, where each prey is analyzed as a continuous percentage of the total. However, analyzing compositional data results in analytical challenges, for example, highly parameterized models or prior transformation of data. Here, we present a novel approximatiAuthorsJames T. Thorson, Mayumi L. Arimitsu, Taal Levi, Gretchen RofflerKittlitz’s murrelet seasonal distribution and post-breeding migration from the Gulf of Alaska to the Arctic Ocean
Kittlitz’s Murrelets (Brachyramphus brevirostris) nest during summer in glaciated or recently deglaciated (post-Wisconsin) landscapes. They forage in adjacent marine waters, especially those influenced by glacial meltwater. Little is known of their movements and distribution outside the breeding season. To identify post-breeding migrations of murrelets, we attached satellite transmitters to birdsAuthorsJohn F. Piatt, David C. Douglas, Mayumi L. Arimitsu, Michelle Kissling, Erica N. Madison, Sarah K. Schoen, Kathy J. Kuletz, Gary S. DrewIntegrating 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 Zador - Web Tools
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