Seabirds and Forage Fish Ecology
Science Center Objects
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.
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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. 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
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Date published: August 4, 2017Status: ActiveNorth Pacific Pelagic Seabird Database
The North Pacific Pelagic Seabird Database (NPPSD) includes more than 350,000 survey transects that were designed and conducted primarily to census seabirds at sea.
Contacts: Gary S Drew, Ph.D., John Piatt, Ph.D.
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Date published: September 11, 2019Status: ActiveSeabird 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.
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Date published: July 11, 2019Status: ActiveHarmful 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...
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Date published: August 2, 2018Status: ActiveDetecting Long-term Changes in Forage Fish Populations in Prince William Sound, Alaska
Forage fish are an important node in marine food webs because they link primary and secondary producers with higher trophic levels.
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Date published: August 2, 2018Status: ActiveCook 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.
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Date published: August 1, 2018Status: ActiveTerrestrial 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.
Extreme 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....
Piatt, John F.; Parrish, Julia K.; Renner, Heather M.; Schoen, Sarah K.; Jones, Timothy; Arimitsu, Mayumi L.; Kuletz, Kathy J.; Bodenstein, Barbara; Garcia-Reyes, Marisol; Duerr, Rebecca; Corcoran, Robin; Kaler, Robb S.A.; McChesney, Gerard J.; Golightly, Richard T.; Coletti, Heather A.; Suryan, Robert M.; Burgess, Hillary K.; Lindsey, Jackie; Lindquist, Kirsten; Warzybok, Peter; Jahncke, Jaime; Roletto, Jan; Sydeman, William J. Algal toxins in Alaskan seabirds: Evaluating the role of saxitoxin and domoic acid in a large-scale die-off of Common Murres
Elevated seawater temperatures are linked to the development of harmful algal blooms (HABs), which pose a growing threat to marine birds and other wildlife. During late 2015 and early 2016, a massive die-off of Common Murres (Uria algae; hereafter, murres) was observed in the Gulf of Alaska coincident with a strong marine heat wave. Previous...
Van Hemert, Caroline R.; Schoen, Sarah K.; Litaker, R. Wayne; Smith, Matthew M.; Arimitsu, Mayumi L.; Piatt, John F.; Holland, William C.; Hardison, Ransom; Pearce, John M. Effects of ocean climate on the length and condition of forage fish in the Gulf of Alaska
Climatic drivers of the size and body condition of forage fish in the North Pacific are poorly known. We hypothesized that length and condition of forage fish in the Gulf of Alaska (GoA) should vary in relation to ocean temperature on multiple scales. To test this hypothesis, we analyzed morphometric data for capelin (Mallotus catervarius) and...
Sarah Ann Thompson; Marisol Garcia-Reyes; William Sydeman; Arimitsu, Mayumi L.; Scott Hatch; Piatt, John F. Extreme reduction in nutritional value of a key forage fish during the Pacific marine heatwave of 2014–2016
Pacific sand lance Ammodytes personatus are a key forage fish in the North Pacific for many species of salmon, groundfish, seabirds, and marine mammals and have historically been important to predators in relatively warm years. However, extreme declines in the nutritional value of sand lance in Prince William Sound, Alaska, USA, during...
von Biela, Vanessa R.; Arimitsu, Mayumi L.; Piatt, John F.; Heflin, Brielle; Schoen, Sarah K.; Trowbridge, Jannelle; Clawson, Chelsea Biogeography of pelagic food webs in the North Pacific
The tufted puffin (Fratercula cirrhata) is a generalist seabird that breeds throughout the North Pacific and eats more than 75 different prey species. Using puffins as samplers, we characterized the geographic variability in pelagic food webs across the subarctic North Pacific from the composition of ~10,000 tufted puffin meals (~56,000 prey items...
Piatt, John F.; Arimitsu, Mayumi L.; Sydeman, William J.; Thompson, Sarah Ann; Renner, Heather; Zador, Stephani; Douglas, David C.; Hatch, Scott A.; Kettle, Arthur B.; Williams, Jeffrey C. Tracing biogeochemical subsidies from glacier runoff into Alaska's coastal marine food webs
Nearly half of the freshwater discharge into the Gulf of Alaska originates from landscapes draining glacier runoff, but the influence of the influx of riverine organic matter on the trophodynamics of coastal marine food webs is not well understood. We quantified the ecological impact of riverine organic matter subsidies to glacier-marine habitats...
Arimitsu, Mayumi L.; Hobson, Keith A.; Webber, D'Arcy N.; Piatt, John F.; Hood, Eran W.; Fellman, Jason B. Best practices for assessing forage fish fisheries-seabird resource competition
Worldwide, in recent years capture fisheries targeting lower-trophic level forage fish and euphausiid crustaceans have been substantial (∼20 million metric tons [MT] annually). Landings of forage species are projected to increase in the future, and this harvest may affect marine ecosystems and predator-prey interactions by removal or...
Sydeman, William J.; Thompson, Sarah Ann; Anker-Nilssen, Tycho; Arimitsu, Mayumi L.; Bennison, Ashley; Bertrand, Sophie; Boersch-Supan, Philipp; Boyd, Charlotte; Bransome, Nicole C.; Crawford, Robert J.M.; Daunt, Francis; Furness, Robert W.; Gianuca, Dimas; Gladics, Amanda; Koehn, Laura; Lang, Jennifer W.; Loggerwell, Elizabeth; Morris, Taryn L.; Phillips, Elizabeth M.; Provencher, Jennifer; Punt, André E..; Saraux, Claire; Shannon, Lynne; Sherley, Richard B.; Simeone, Alejandro; Wanless, Ross M.; Wanless, Sarah; Zador, Stephani Puffins reveal contrasting relationships between forage fish and ocean climate in the North Pacific
Long-term studies of predator food habits (i.e., ‘predator-based sampling’) are useful for identifying patterns of spatial and temporal variability of forage nekton in marine ecosystems. We investigated temporal changes in forage fish availability and relationships to ocean climate by analyzing diet composition of three puffin species (horned...
Sydeman, William J.; Piatt, John F.; Thompson, Sarah Ann; Garcia-Reyes, Marisol; Hatch, Scott A.; Arimitsu, Mayumi L.; Slater, Leslie; Williams, Jeffrey C.; Rojek, Nora A.; Zador, Stephani G.; Renner, Heather M. Influence of glacier runoff on ecosystem structure in Gulf of Alaska fjords
To better understand the influence of glacier runoff on fjord ecosystems, we sampled oceanographic conditions, nutrients, zooplankton, forage fish and seabirds within 4 fjords in coastal areas of the Gulf Alaska. We used generalized additive models and geostatistics to identify the range of glacier runoff influence into coastal waters within...
Arimitsu, Mayumi L.; Piatt, John F.; Mueter, Franz J. Testing the effectiveness of automated acoustic sensors for monitoring vocal activity of Marbled Murrelets Brachyramphus marmoratus
Cryptic nest sites and secretive breeding behavior make population estimates and monitoring of Marbled Murrelets Brachyramphus marmoratus difficult and expensive. Standard audio-visual and radar protocols have been refined but require intensive field time by trained personnel. We examined the detection range of automated sound recorders (Song...
Cragg, Jenna L.; Burger, Alan E.; Piatt, John F.
User’s guide to the North Pacific Pelagic Seabird Database 2.0
The North Pacific Pelagic Seabird Database (NPPSD) was created in 2005 to consolidate data on the oceanic distribution of marine bird species in the North Pacific. Most of these data were collected on surveys by counting species within defined areas and at known locations (that is, on strip transects). The NPPSD also contains observations of other...
Drew, Gary S.; Piatt, John F.; Renner, Martin Icefield-to-ocean linkages across the northern Pacific coastal temperate rainforest ecosystem
Rates of glacier mass loss in the northern Pacific coastal temperate rainforest (PCTR) are among the highest on Earth, and changes in glacier volume and extent will affect the flow regime and chemistry of coastal rivers, as well as the nearshore marine ecosystem of the Gulf of Alaska. Here we synthesize physical, chemical and biological linkages...
O'Neel, Shad; Hood, Eran; Bidlack, Allison L.; Fleming, Sean W.; Arimitsu, Mayumi L.; Arendt, Anthony; Burgess, Evan W.; Sergeant, Christopher J.; Beaudreau, Anne E.; Timm, Kristin; Hayward, Gregory D.; Reynolds, Joel H.; Pyare, Sanjay-
Date published: February 1, 2018Hydroacoustic Surveys, North Pacific and Bering Sea, 2012 and 2014
These data comprise of hydroacoustic backscatter data along transects in the North Pacific and Bering Sea conducted in August 2012 and 2014. We echointegrated hydroactoustic backscatter and used that as a proxy for forage fish biomass. The dataset consists of comma delimited files for 120Hz frequency. Each file contains analysis exports from EchoView Software Pty Ltd. ver. 5.4.
Attribution: Alaska Science Center -
Date published: February 1, 2018
Marine Bird and Mammal Surveys, North Pacific and Bering Sea 2012-2014
This dataset describes marine bird and mammal surveys conducted in August 2012-2014 in the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea. Data were collected to document the at-sea distribution and abundance of marine birds and mammals, and were conducted using standard strip width transect protocols (Gould and Forsell 1989). One observer and one recorder identified and counted birds on transect at al...
Attribution: Alaska Science Center -
Date published: February 1, 2018
Oceanographic Conditions (Temperature and Salinity), North Pacific and Bering Sea 2012-2014
This dataset contains sea surface temperature and salinity data in August 2012 - 2014 in the North Pacific and Bering Sea. Data were measured continuously during at-sea surveys using a hull-mounted thermosalinograph (SeaBird Electronics Inc® SBE 21). Data are output in a CNV file format to be processed by Seabird Electronics Inc® Software version Seasave V 7.23.2.
Attribution: Alaska Science Center -
Date published: February 1, 2018
Tufted Puffin Chick Body Conditions, North Pacific and Bering Sea, 2012-2014
Data were collected to index the body condition of Tufted Puffin chicks on colonies in the North Pacific and Bering Sea during August or 2012-2014. This dataset contains information on every chick measured. Data consists of: colony name, date, wing chord (mm), mass (g), culmen (mm), tarsus (mm), body condition (mass/wing), and burrow observations. Chick body
Attribution: Alaska Science Center -
Date published: February 1, 2018Tufted Puffin Colony Environmental Data, North Pacific and Bering Sea, 2012-2014
This dataset describes the marine environment surrounding Tufted puffin colonies in the North Pacific and Bering Sea, 2012-2014. Data were derived to assess the geographic variability in puffin diet in relation to variation in marine habitat. This dataset consisting of: colony, date, latitude, longitude, region, depth, slope, tide, and chlorophyll.
Attribution: Alaska Science Center -
Date published: January 1, 2017
Biogeochemical Subsidies from Glacier Runoff into Alaska Coastal Marine Food Webs, Gulf of Alaska, 2012-2013
To demonstrate connectivity between terrestrial and marine ecosystems, we used stable (δ13C, δ15N, δ2H) and radiogenic (∆14C) isotopes to estimate the relative contribution of glacier runoff and terrestrial-derived organic matter (OM) to marine food webs. This dataset contains information on isotopic signatures from dissolved organic matter (DOM), di
Attribution: Alaska Science Center -
Date published: January 1, 2017
Glacier Runoff Biophysical Data in Gulf of Alaska Fjords, 2004-2011
In order to understand marine ecosystem responses to a range of habitat variability in coastal zones modified by glacial freshwater outflows, biophysical data were collected in three study regions that included four major glacial fjord systems around the Gulf of Alaska. Each of 172 discrete stations within the three study regions was sampled once during the peak ice-melt season in summer. A...
Attribution: Alaska Science Center -
Date published: January 1, 2017
Marine Bird and Mammal Surveys in Glacier Fjords of Alaska, 2004-2011
These data describe marine bird and mammal surveys conducted in glacial fjords of coastal Alaska. Data were collected to document the at-sea distribution and abundance of marine birds and mammals in Glacier Bay National Park (2004), Prince William Sound (2010), Icy Bay (2011) and Yakutat Bay (2011). Following standard US Fish and Wildlife protocols for strip surveys.
Attribution: Alaska Science Center -
Date published: January 1, 2017
Modified Herring Trawl Fish Catch Data, Gulf of Alaska Fjords, 2004-2011
This dataset contains catch data from trawls at the sampling stations. We deployed a modified herring trawl in coastal waters within glacier fjords of Alaska. Sampling stations in each fjord were chosen randomly from a 2.5 x 2.5 km grid overlaid on navigable waters in the fjord. The number of stations in each fjord was chosen to achieve a sampling frequency of about 1 sample per 15 km^2, and...
Attribution: Alaska Science Center -
Date published: January 1, 2017
Near-surface Nutrients Data from Gulf of Alaska Fjords, 2004-2011
This dataset contains nutrient data collected at stations within four fjords in the coastal area of the Gulf of Alaska. Sea water samples were collected with a Seabird Electronics Ecosampler SBE55 attached to a conductivity-temperature-depth profiler. Bottles were fired at the surface (0 m) and from 8 m (in Glacier Bay, AK in 2004) or 10 m (in Prince William Sound, AK in 2010 and in
Attribution: Alaska Science Center
Common Murres in their colony in Cook Inlet, Alaska
Common Murres in their colony in Cook Inlet, Alaska
Black-legged Kittiwakes in a colony in Cook Inlet, Alaska
Black-legged Kittiwakes in a colony in Cook Inlet, Alaska. One bird on a nest.
Capturing Black-legged Kittiwakes for study in Cook Inlet, Alaska
Brielle Heflin and Brian Robinson capturing Black-legged Kittiwakes at the base of the colony in Cook Inlet, Alaska. These birds were used in adult physiology studies.
A Tufted Puffin in the sea in Lower Cook Inlet, Alaska
A Tufted Puffin swimming in the sea near Gull Island in Lower Cook Inlet , Alaska
Scientist holding a herring dip net of forage fish in Cook Inlet, AK
Brian Robinson holding a herring dip net of forage fish in Cook Inlet, Alaska
Black-legged Kittiwakes foraging for fish in Cook Inlet, Alaska
Black-legged Kittiwakes foraging for fish in Cook Inlet, Alaska.
A Horned Puffin taking off from the water
A Horned Puffin taking off from the water
Common Murres in the water
Large amount of Common Murres in the water
A flock of Black-legged Kittiwakes foraging on small fish in the water
A flock of Black-legged Kittiwakes foraging.
A Horned Puffin flying
A Horned Puffin flying
A Horned Puffin flying over the water
A Horned Puffin flying over the water
Three Arctic Terns sitting on a log in Prince William Sound
Three Arctic Terns sitting on a log floating in the water in Prince William Sound.
