For the fifth year in a row, Gay Sheffield has been investigating unusual seabird deaths in Western Alaska in collaboration with Bering Strait residents, Kawerak Inc., the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and others. Sheffield is a marine mammal biologist and Alaska Sea Grant’s Marine Advisory Program agent in Nome. Part of her work involves […]
Manit-Eggs Manigsurciqukut.We’re going to look for eggs. Bird eggs are a favorite spring food in Alutiiq communities. Each year many thousands of seabirds nest along the rocky shores of the Gulf of Alaska coast. Collectors begin gathering eggs in May, particularly gull eggs. To avoid eggs with developing chicks, it is important to collect those […]
Sometimes during regular fishing operations, seabirds accidentally get caught in fishing gear, resulting in injury or death. While this occurrence (also known as bycatch) is unfortunate, it does provide an opportunity to monitor seabird population characteristics and trends over time. Observers deployed by the North Pacific, Pacific Islands and At-Sea Hake Observer Programs collect […]
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is reporting that at least 800 carcasses of seabirds, that include Northern Fulmars, Kittiwakes, Shearwaters, Murres and Auklets have been observed on the beaches throughout the Bering Sea and Bering Straits since early August of this year. “Dead and dying seabirds have been reported from Shishmaref, south to the Pribilof […]