seabird mass mortality event on st. paul,...

PaulMelovidov

AaronLestenkof

SeabirdMassMortalityEventonSt.Paul,PribilofsLaurenDivine,Co-DirectorACSPIECOJuliaKParrish,ExecutiveDirectorCOASST

EcosystemConservationOfficeIslandSentinels

27adultTuftedPuffins

2murres8adultHornedPuffins

2juvenileTuftedPuffins

photographcourtesyofACSPIEcosystemConservationOffice

Day1– 39Carcasses,MostlyTuftedPuffins,MostlyIntact

7CrestedAuklets

photographcourtesyofACSPIEcosystemConservationOffice

Day32– 45Carcasses,incl’inganewspecies: CrestedAuklets

HowManyofWhichSpeciesHaveBeenFound?

photographs:adtTUPU– TringaPhotography,juvTUPU– TerrySohl,adtHOPU– LeeRentz,CRAU– CristopheGouraud,TBMU– AllAboutBirds,ArcticFox– ACSPIECO;datacourtesyofACSPIEcosystemConservationOffice;graphicsbyCOASST

292 carcassesfound87% TuftedPuffins

Ø cominginfast(daily)Ø toomanyforthefoxestoeat

85% intact

TuftedPuffinNaturalHistory

Ø NestsundergroundinaburrowØ LaysoneeggeachyearØ Deepdiver(“flies”underwater)Ø EatssmallfishlikecapelinandsandlanceØ WintersintheNorthPacific

breedingrange

winteringrange

breeding

nonbreeding

juvenile

~6,000TuftedPuffinsbreedingonthePribilofIslands

photographs:breeding– TringaPhotography,nonbreeding– AllAboutBirds,juvenile– TerrySohl,rangemap– CornellLabofOrnithology

SamplingBeachesonSt.PaulCOASSTregular(blue);PuffinDie-off(red)

mapcourtesyofPamelaLestenkof,ACSPIEcosystemConservationOffice

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Aug Sep Oct Nov

0.0

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Month

Enco

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carc

asse

s km

-1)

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All birdsPetrelsAlcidsLarids

Mean ER(±95% CI)

Shor

t-tail

ed S

hear

wat

er

Soot

y Sh

earw

ater

Nor

ther

n Fu

lmar

Fork

-taile

d St

orm

-Pet

rel

Petr

els*

Com

mon

Mur

re

Thick

-bille

d M

urre

Mur

res*

Hor

ned

Puffi

nTu

fted

Puffi

nPu

ffins

*La

rge A

lcids

*Le

ast A

ukle

t

Para

keet

Auk

let

Aukl

ets*

Small

Alci

ds*

Blac

k-le

gged

Kitt

iwak

e

Red-

legg

ed K

ittiw

ake

Kitti

wak

es*

Glau

cous

-win

ged

Gul

l

3-To

ed S

hore

bird

s*

Red-

faced

Cor

mor

ant

Unk

now

n*

010

2030

40

Other

PetrelsAlcidsLarids

Species compositionCarcass encounter rates

* species unknown

WhichSeabirdsNormallyWashUponSt.Paul?COASST“regularbeach”Data

photographs:STSH– KingfisherBayResortandFraserIsland,NOFU– Birdspix,TBMU– TrinjaPhotography;datacourtesyofCOASST,ACSPIECO;graphics- COASST

these birds

not thisbird

thesemonths

notthesemonths

AllSpeciesCombined

TuftedPuffinsOnly

Normal

Now

HowManyxNormal?

10km 140km(!)

.22km .25km

~45x ~550x

HowOftenareBeachedBirdsFound?

Aug - Nov Tufted Puffin Density 1975 - 2012birds km -2

00.01 - 0.650.65 - 1.191.19 - 2.83

2.83 - 28.57

/0 100 20050km

St.Paul

St.George

NorthPacificPelagicSeabirdDatabase(NPPSD)1975-2012,courtesyofJohnPiatt,USGS

WhereareTuftedPuffinsFoundontheWaterinAug-Nov?

IceEdge – farthernorththannormal

Feb1 Feb18 Mar6 Mar23 Apr9 Apr25 May12 May29 Jun15

60

62

64

9075604020

SeaIceExtentandConcentration(%)

long.185-194lat.58-64

2016:

WhatAretheEcosystemConditions?OceanWarmingin2016

°°°°°°

°

°

°

°

°

°

°

U.S.-Russi

a

Convention Line

St. Lawrence I.

St.Matthew

I.

BeringStrait

1000m

ALASKA

Mar 30, 1976Apr 02, 2001Mar 31, 2008

Max Ice Extent

RUSSIA

M2

M4

M5

M8

BERINGSEA

50m

70-mLine

+ +

70m

100mALA

SKA Pe

n.

MooringmapandseaiceextentdatacourtesyofPhyllisStabeno,PMEL,NOAA

WaterColumn – warmerthannormal

1995 2000 2005 2010 2015-2.0

02.04.06.08.0 Depth-AveragedTemp@M2(degC)


MooringtemperaturedatacourtesyofPhyllisStabeno,PMEL,NOAA

BottomTemperature – warmerthannormal

2000 2005 2010 2015-2.0

0

2.0

4.0

6.0 BottomTemp@M4(degC)

nocoldpoolontheBeringSeaShelf


SeaSurfaceTemperatureAnomaly - 31Oct2016

SSTdatafromabove:OIv2AVHRRonly;below:NCEPOIv2,bothcourtesyofNateMantua,NOAA

WhatAretheEcosystemConditions?lowerqualitypreyforyoungpollock(andCrestedAuklets?)

Zooplankton:dominatedbysmallcopepods

Spring2016

Fall2016

ZooplanktondatacourtesyofStephaniZador,ElizabethSiddon,IvonneOrtiz– EcosystemConsiderationsPresentationatBSAIGroundfishPlanTeamMeeting,14Nov2016

Summary– WhatWeKnowSeabirds:Ø allareAlcids(murres,puffins,auklets)Ø mostareTuftedPuffinsØ bothfish-eaters(puffins,murres)andplankton-eaters

(CrestedAuklets)Ø livebirdsareveryclosetoshoreØ carcassesareunder-weight,starvingØ eventisstillhappeningØ geographicextentisunknown

OceanConditions:Ø BeringSeaiswarmerthannormal,lessice,nocold

poolØ zooplankton(copepods)aresmallerthannormal,

lowerqualityfood

Biologists at the Aleut Community of St. Paul Island Tribal Government Ecosystem Conservation Office (ACSPI ECO) have counted nearly 300 beached seabird carcasses on the island since October 17, 2016. The species found are mostly tufted puffins, but horned puffins, murres, and recently, crested auklets have been found. The current encounter rate (carcasses/kilometer) of puffin carcasses in the past three weeks is more than 350 times the normal rate based on surveys conducted at St. Paul over the past ten years (2006-2015) according to the Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COASST) and ACSPI ECO.

Because only a fraction of birds that die at sea will become beached, and even fewer counted prior to removal by scavengers, the report of nearly 300 seabirds (adults and juveniles) washed up on four monitored beaches at St. Paul Island raises concern. The U.S. Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC) in Madison, WI performed necropsies to determine cause of death of eight of the Pribilof beached puffins. All puffins showed severe emaciation. At this time, no pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites have been identified and the current cause of death of seabirds at St. Paul Island appears to be starvation. These results are similar to murres examined during the 2015-2016 Alaskan seabird die-off.

USFWS Alaska Migratory Bird Management 1011 E. Tudor Rd. Anchorage AK 99503 1-866-527-3358 (phone) [email protected] November 2016

What’s Happening?

What Do We Know?

Are we seeing the

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Pribilof Islands Seabird Die-off

Carcasses recovered from North Beach, St. Paul Island, Pribilof Islands by Aleut Community of St. Paul Island Tribal Government Ecosystem Conservation Office (ACSPI ECO). Photo credit: ACSPI ECO.

The causes of the seabird starvation, both of murres and puffins, is unknown but may be linked to changes in prey distribution or abundance due to above average sea surface temperatures (SST). Abnormally high SST were recorded in the Bering, Beaufort and Chukchi Seas in October 2016, as well as record low levels of Arctic sea ice extent. Report sick or dead birds to: • 1-866-527-3358 or email [email protected] • Time & Date • Exact location (latitude/longitude, length of beach) • Type of bird (species name or group e.g., murre, puffin, etc.) • Estimated number of birds • Photos

Participate in monitoring efforts on your local beaches The Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COASST) can connect you with existing citizen science survey teams and provides training in how to identify birds and collect high quality data that are shared with researchers and resource management agencies. Visit www.coasst.org to learn more or contact COASST at 1-206-221-6893 or email [email protected].

Why Are They Starving?

What Can I Do?

alsocheckout:LEOwebsite:www.leonetwork.org;COASSTwebsite:www.coasst.org;NationalGeographic:news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/11/tufted-puffis-die-off-bering-sea-alka-starvation-warm-water-climate-change/

USFWSPutsOutaBulletinontheSt.PaulSeabirdDie-off

WhatYouCanDo

CollectobservationsandposttotheLEONetwork.

Becometrainedinamonitoringprotocol aspartofBeringWatchandcollectregularmonthly(givenweather)data.Ø joinCOASSTØ attendtheCOASST-BeringWatchtrainingatAFE

seabird mass mortality event on st. paul,...

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