Tag: Cooper Island

Loss and Brief Moments of Hope

Post author By Jenny Woodman
Post date July 27, 2018

Cooper Island Black Guillemot in May 2017. Image Credit: George Divoky

Nature, when observed or monitored for any extended period, typically provides a predictability that is reassuring in its consistency and sufficient surprises to keep one engaged.

For over four decades, my first task after I set up camp was a census of the Cooper Island Black Guillemot colony. This year was an excellent example of this balance of the expected and unexpected.

Banded — Colorful bands make it easy to identify familiar birds and newcomers (without bands). Image Credit: George Divoky

Since the 1970s, the majority of the birds breeding in the colony have had, in addition to a numbered metal band, a unique combination of color bands allowing identification with binoculars of individual birds. My census of the colony consists of recording the number of occupied nest sites and the color band combinations of the individuals occupying each site. This allows me to determine the birds who survived the winter since last year’s breeding season and whether they have retained the same nest site and mate.

Black Guillemots, like most seabirds, have high annual survival of adult birds and high mate and nest-site fidelity. On average 90 percent of the individuals breeding on Cooper have returned the following year with mate and nest-site fidelity over 95 percent. With loss of breeding birds so uncommon and changes in mate and nest site so rare, past censuses consisted primarily of confirming last year’s pair was again occupying a particular nest site. For the small number of nests where one member of a pair did not return, there typically was a new recruit already occupying the vacancy by the time of my census–either a bird banded as a nestling on Cooper Island or an immigrant, indicated by its lack of any bands.

In the past, the high survivorship of breeding birds meant that some of the individuals I resighted each June were ones I had seen for over 20 years, and in many cases had known since I had weighed them daily as a nestling. The resightings of these individuals as adults provided an annual touchstone that was an important part of both my emotional and scientific connection to the colony.

My initial census of the colony this year was unlike any in the past. The loss of breeding birds over the winter was the highest on record. Nearly one-third of the 170 birds that bred in 2017 not returning to the colony in 2018.

As mentioned in an earlier post, many of the 50 pairs that had eggs this year (down from 85 in 2017 and 100 in 2016) consisted of widowed birds that both lost a mate over the winter. The decrease in breeding population was exacerbated by the paucity of previously nonbreeding birds present to recruit into the breeding population. Some established breeders widowed over the winter are the sole occupants of their nest sites. Even pairs that did survive the winter have shown much lower mate and site fidelity than I have observed in previous years.

The disturbingly high percentage of birds lost to overwinter mortality comes as a major surprise but a simple percentage fails to capture the full impact of what I experienced during this year’s census.

Screen Shot 2018-05-18 at 1.36.12 PM — George’s “Cover Girl,” featured here on a December cover of Audubon Magazine, didn’t return to Cooper Island this year. Image Credit: Peter Mather for Audubon

Many of the individual birds I have known for decades were among those absent from the colony. Most notable was Yellow-Gray- Green, a 21-year-old female banded as a chick in 1996 and breeding on Cooper since 2001. She was featured on the cover of last winter’s Audubon magazine. Another individual absent this year with an even longer history on the island is White-Gray-Blue, who fledged from Cooper in 1989 and bred on the island during 23 years of rapid environmental change including of decreases in sea ice, warming ocean temperatures, increased polar bear nest predation and major shifts in prey availability.

While examining this year’s colony census at the level of the individual bird, versus a review of declining numbers is disheartening, it also provides some reasons for optimism–a rare feeling this field season.

My census found that a number of birds fledged from Cooper in recent years recruited into the breeding population this year, starting what I hope will be a long and productive career as breeders. These birds, and their young–the fledging chicks we hope they produce later this summer–provides one both with optimism and motivation to maintain the long-term study. As Hannah Waters pointed out in her excellent article in Audubon magazine, the guillemots are going to have to adapt and evolve for the colony to survive in a rapidly warming Arctic.

The hope that this year’s first-time breeders and their young will find a way to maintain the colony during the major changes occurring in the Arctic allows me to maintain a positive attitude as I continue to monitor this year’s breeding season.

This field report is part of an ongoing series titled Arctic Change centered around George Divoky’s 44th field season studying Black Guillemots, sea ice, and climate change on a remote Arctic island off the coast of Alaska. To donate and support Divoky’s work on Cooper Island, visit the Friends of Cooper Island website.

Can These Seabirds Adapt Fast Enough to Survive a Melting Arctic? by Hannah Waters

Arctic Worries by Jenny Woodman

George Divoky’s Planet by Darcy Frey

Tags Arctic, Black Guillemots, Breeding, Climate Change, Climate Data, Cooper Island, Field Reports, Sea ice

Arctic Change

Arctic Worries

A lone Black Guillemot and sea ice off Cooper Island. Image Credit: George Divoky

Black Guillemots and sea ice off Cooper Island. Image Credit: George Divoky

Mandt’s Black Guillemots. Image Credit: George DIvoky

George Divoky frets–with good reason. In 2016, CNN Correspondent John D. Sutter called him the man who is watching the world melt. The description is as distressing as it is apt.

George sends us regular dispatches from a small field camp on Cooper Island, about 25 miles east of Utqiaġvik, where he has studied a colony of nesting Mandt’s Black Guillemots for the last 44 years. Since his work began in 1975, the research has morphed into one of the longest-running studies of seabirds, sea ice, and climate change.

Guillemots look like small penguins headed off to a fancy party replete with ice sculptures and all-night dancing. Unlike other seabirds that migrate out of the region seasonally, they live out over the frigid waters year-round, only returning to land to breed and fledge their young–this makes them an excellent indicator of how climate change is impacting the Arctic.

Weather delayed the start of this research season in early June. While warm temperatures in the Arctic have made headlines in recent months, unusually late snow and ice kept the guillemots from reaching their nesting boxes until mid-June; the first egg was laid on June 24.

His communications are tinged with an effort to buoy spirits–I’m guessing his own more so than ours. This week, the bad news came first: a 29-year-old female died. He wrote that she had been banded during the first George Bush administration. (While many humans rely on a simple Gregorian calendar, George’s memories appear to be synchronized according to a timeline rooted firmly in geopolitics.)

Bad news was followed with happy; two siblings from the 2014 cohort returned and recruited partners for breeding.

Otherwise, it’s been a stormy week on the island. On July 20, he wrote that the wind was finally dying down. A bad week for the infrastructure, the camp’s weather station was blown over and part of the heavy-duty WeatherPort tarp separated from the frame, which caused a number of things to get wet. On Wednesday he saw record high rainfall for that date.

Egg laying hit an all-time low this year, with fewer breeding pairs than any previous year.

He’s asking questions about how changing ice conditions will impact these seabirds – his seabirds. In his most recent field report, he spoke at length about the relationship between the guillemots and nearshore sea ice. The location of the sea ice impacts how far parents will have to fly to access suitable prey for their chicks. Increased travel time means greater energy expended by parents – for seabirds that live predominantly out in open waters, it’s all about balancing resources and energy. The presence or absence of sea ice combined with the temperature of the ocean waters impacts the availability of Arctic Cod, the small nutritious fish the guillemots prefer.

George hopes the slowly departing nearshore sea ice will keep ideal prey in foraging range for the seabirds. He wrote, the cod is “urgently needed for the colony to reduce its current population decline.”

A MODIS image from July 11; snow and ice are cyan color while clouds tend to be more grayish. Image Credit: NASA Worldview

A MODIS image from July 16; snow and ice are cyan color while clouds tend to be more grayish. Image Credit: NASA Worldview

David Douglas is a research wildlife biologist for United States Geological Survey (USGS) Alaska Science Center; he and George are frequent collaborators. This week he emailed the MODIS images displayed above and wrote that Cooper Island was pretty well surrounded until July 16 when the persistent ice immediately around the island broke up and melted.

Studies like George’s will help scientists to better understand the ramifications of long-term warming and less sea ice for wildlife in the region. Impacts to wildlife will directly affect the lives of the people who depend on subsistence fishing and hunting for survival.

Warming Arctic conditions have persisted with 2018 reaching record lows for sea ice extent, according to a report published by NOAA and University of Alaska Fairbanks’s International Arctic Research Center.

Late ice formation and early retreat in the Chukchi and Bering Seas impacted local communities by making travel for subsistence hunting and fishing dangerous and, at times, impossible. Storm damage and erosion was worsened by exposed shorelines, left unprotected by a lack of sea ice. Island villages and coastal communities experienced flooding and property damage as well. You can read more about the storm impacts here and here.

The report attributes late and minimal ice coverage to warmer temperatures, particularly over the last four years. Increased temperatures combined with stronger storms helped break up weaker ice.

In 2018, there was less sea ice in the Bering Sea than any year since 1850, when commercial whalers began recording this data. Experts agree, loss of sea ice is a result of climate change. Continued warming creates a feedback loop where warming temperatures melt ice; without a reflective snow and ice covering, the ocean absorbs more of the sun’s warming rays and temperatures continue to rise.

As for future winters, what can people expect to see if warming continues at current rates?

“Communities need to prepare for more winters with low sea ice and stormy conditions. Although not every winter will be like this one,” concludes the report, “there will likely be similar winters in the future. Ice formation will likely remain low if warm water temperatures in the Bering Sea continue.”

And for George’s seabirds? How many birds will successfully fledge this year? How many will return next?

We’ll just have to wait and see.

This piece is part of an ongoing series titled Arctic Change centered around George Divoky’s 44th field season studying Black Guillemots, sea ice, and climate change on a remote Arctic island off the coast of Alaska. To donate and support Divoky’s work on Cooper Island, visit the Friends of Cooper Island website.

Historic Low Sea Ice in the Bering Sea by Kathryn Hansen for NASA Earth Observatory

Arctic Sea Ice a Major Determinant in Mandt’s Black Guillemot Movement and Distribution During Non-Breeding Season By G. J. Divoky, D.C. Douglas, and I.J. Stenhouse

Melting Arctic Sends a Message: Climate Change Is Here In a Big Way by Mark Serreze

The First Frontier: Creating a Climate Displacement Fund for Displaced Alaska Communities By Wen Hoe

Tags Arctic, Black Guillemots, Breeding, Climate Change, Climate Data, Cooper Island, Field Reports, NOAA, Ocean, Satellites, Science Communication, Sea ice, Seabirds, Utqiaġvik, Wildlife

Arctic Change

Seabirds and Sea Ice

MODIS June — MODIS image from June 5; snow and ice have blue/cyan color, while clouds will be lighter gray/white. Image Credit: David Douglass/USGS

Over most of its range the Black Guillemot is a nearshore seabird, occupying coastal waters during both the breeding and nonbreeding seasons, as do other members of the genus Cepphus. Pelagic or open ocean waters can offer abundant prey resources, but these options are often distant, patchy and unpredictable.

The nearshore typically offers seabirds a smaller but more reliable source prey base consisting of forage fish and benthic fauna from the ocean floor such as crustaceans or mussels.

The Arctic Ocean has extensive sea ice cover in the nearshore for the majority of the year; this presents a number of challenges to a nearshore species. Our work on the Cooper Island Black Guillemots has revealed a number of ways in which the species has met these challenges.

The current view from my cabin window illustrates one of the major problems guillemots face in the Arctic. Sea ice extends from the north beach of the island to the horizon and covers Elson Lagoon to the south. The only water available to the guillemots is a brackish pond in the center of the colony that provides no prey but is deep enough to provide sanctuary if the guillemots need to dive when pursued by an owl or falcon — regular visitors to the island.

MODIS July — MODIS image from July 9; snow and ice have blue/cyan color, while clouds will be lighter gray/white. Image Credit: David Douglass/USGS

While guillemots arrived on the island almost a month ago and egg laying is now complete, until recently the closest predictable open water where guillemots could find prey was approximately 20 miles away, off Point Barrow where winds and currents shift the sea ice creating an area of open water. This opening is called a lead. The Cooper Island guillemots stage there in April and May before coming to the island. (Editor’s note: Leads are important for wildlife, because they allow for access to oxygen in the case of seals and walruses and prey in the case of seabirds; you can read more from the National Snow and Ice Data Center here.)

This distance between the Cooper Island guillemots’ nesting colony and access to their prey resources during egg laying and incubation is in sharp contrast to what guillemots breeding in subarctic or temperate waters find at their breeding colonies. These birds occupy waters directly adjacent to colonies well before egg laying and foraging areas may even be within sight of nests. The birds breeding on Cooper Island (and likely all colonies of Mandt’s Black Guillemot Cepphus grylle mandti, the high Arctic subspecies of Black Guillemot) have responded to this spatial disconnect by having a well-defined periodicity in their daily colony attendance. Every day, the parent not incubating eggs and all nonbreeding individuals vacate the colony from approximately noon until midnight. The birds fly individually or in small groups to open water where they can feed for almost half the day before returning to the colony just as the “midnight sun” is at its lowest point in the sky.

BeachwCases 2015 — Cooper Island beach with nesting boxes from 2015. Image Credit: George Divoky

While it seems individual birds could fly offshore to open water to feed anytime during the day, there are a number of possible reasons the observed colony-wide pattern of attendance and abandonment developed. For the half of the day when the guillemots are absent – from approximately noon to midnight – there is no evidence that Cooper Island supports a colony of Black Guillemots. It appears to be just a barren sandbar that happens to inexplicably have 200 scattered black plastic cases along with a small cabin surrounded by a bear fence. Falcons, Snowy Owls, and other predators moving along the barrier islands would have little reason to be attracted to this place.

The timing of the birds’ departure and return may be related to changes in air temperature and its effect on ice formation. On nights when the air temperature is below freezing (as it was last night), I have frequently observed the formation of new ice on the surface of the few spaces of open water in the sea ice directly adjacent to shore. This newly formed ice melts in the morning as air temperatures rise. Nocturnal formation of new ice in the waters adjacent to the pack ice reduces the amount of open water available for guillemots to dive for the prey.

This temporary daily reduction in foraging area could be expected to have been pronounced during the Last Glacial Maximum when air temperatures were lower and the ancestors of the Cooper Island guillemots occupied an Arctic refugium. The current pattern of colony attendance for the Cooper Island colony – foraging during the warmest part of the day and attending the breeding colony at night – could have evolved as a way of maximizing the amount of open water available for guillemots.

The large expanse of shorefast ice north of the island this year is persisting later than expected compared to recent years. While the nearshore ice may now be forcing the Cooper Island guillemots to fly further in search of prey, it could benefit the colony later this summer should ice remain in the nearshore close to the colony. In recent years a lack of sea ice when the guillemots are feeding young resulted in increased nestling mortality as higher sea surface temperatures reduced the availability of Arctic Cod, the guillemots’ preferred prey.

Should this year’s nearshore ice break up slowly over the next month, Arctic Cod could remain in the guillemots’ foraging range and allow increased chick growth and fledging success. The latter is urgently needed for the colony to reduce its current population decline. First eggs will be hatching in about two weeks and our daily weighing of nestlings and prey observations should demonstrate how much this year’s persistent sea ice has affected the guillemots’ nearshore environment.

Arctic Sea Ice a Major Determinant in Mandt’s Black Guillemot Movement and Distribution During Non-Breeding Season by G. J. Divoky, D. C. Douglas, I. J. Stenhouse

All About Sea Ice by National Snow and Ice Data Center

Summertime and the Sea Ice is Leaving by Jenny Woodman

Take the A-Train to the Arctic by Jenny Woodman

Tags Arctic, Black Guillemots, Climate Change, Climate Data, Cooper Island, Field Reports, Ocean, Science Communication, Sea ice, USGS

Arctic Change

Long-term Decline Accelerates in Arctic

Post author By Jenny Woodman
Post date July 15, 2018
1 Comment on Long-term Decline Accelerates in Arctic

George collecting data at nesting case in 2015; the cases were added once polar bears became regular visits on the island. Image Credit: George Divoky

NanukCase2015 — George collecting data at nesting case in 2015; the cases were added once polar bears became regular visits on the island. Image Credit: George Divoky

The Cooper Island Black Guillemot colony experiences a major decrease in breeding pairs as long-term decline accelerates.

As of July 6, egg laying ended at the Cooper Island colony and the number of breeding pairs is the lowest it has been in four decades. Only 50 guillemot pairs have laid eggs, down from 85 pairs last year, 100 pairs in 2016 and 200 pairs in the late 1980s.

Screen Shot 2018-07-15 at 9.20.57 AM — Cooper Island breeding pairs over the years; it is important to note that the number of available sites has not decreased as the population has decreased, meaning some environmental factor has likely been decreasing the population. Image Credit: Jenny Woodman

A primary reason for the decline was increased overwinter mortality, with almost one third of the last year’s breeders failing to return to the colony. The long-term average for overwinter mortality is ten percent. Also contributing to the decline was a paucity of recruits to occupy the vacancies created by the mortality. Many of this year’s pairs are composed of two birds that lost mates over the winter. All recruitment that did occur were of birds that had fledged from Cooper Island. Immigrants used to constitute the majority of birds recruited into the breeding population.

A potential reason for the high mortality is the lack of sea ice in the area traditionally occupied by Cooper Island guillemots in winter. The unprecedented lack of sea ice over the Bering Sea shelf likely forced birds to occupy the ice edge in the Arctic Basin north of the Bering Strait, where prey resources may not be as abundant.

The 15 geolocators recently removed from returning birds will allow determination of the winter distribution.

The number of breeding pairs also declined due to the number of pairs maintaining nest sites but failing to lay eggs. Nonbreeding by experienced birds and established pairs has been extremely rare on Cooper Island but this year there are 20 such pairs. The presence of such birds, unable to initiate clutches after occupying a nest site, is an indication that overwinter or spring conditions caused both a decrease in the condition of returning birds as well as increased mortality.

Eggs will begin hatching in the third week of July and one has to hope fledging success will be high.

The Earliest Year by George Divoky

Summertime and the Sea Ice is Leaving by Jenny Woodman

In the Arctic, the Old Ice Is Disappearing by Jeremy White and Kendra Pierre-Louis (2018)

Sea Ice by Michon Scott and Kathryn Hansen for NASA Earth Observatory

Tags Arctic, Black Guillemots, Breeding, Climate Change, Cooper Island, Earth observation, Field Reports, Geolocators, Sea ice, Utqiaġvik

Exploring Ocean Worlds Sea Sentries

Understanding Wild Things

Pigeon Guillemots are a coastal species that are locally common, meaning they are common in areas suited to their needs. You won’t spot them on sandy beaches, but in places with rocky outcrops and where they like to nest in inaccessible rocky crevices. To Lindquist, this speaks to the different survival strategies adopted out here: Common Murres nest in large colonies, seeking protection as group; Cassin’s Auklet’s are nocturnal and nest in burrows; and, Pigeon Guillemots use the rocky crevices for protection while breeding. Image Credit: Julie Chase/ACCESS/NOAA/Point Blue

The Western Gulls are residents of Farallon Islands and they’re quite abundant. Unlike the other birds out here, they forage in the wild, but they also come very close to human activities and interact with people. Western Gulls are much less isolated than the other species studied on the islands. Image Credit: Julie Chase/ACCESS/NOAA/Point Blue

Kirsten Lindquist is the ecosystem monitoring manager for the Greater Farallones Association (GFA); she is also the birder for this ACCESS cruise. She’s awestruck by ocean creatures that live in such extreme environments. Image Credit: Julie Chase/ACCESS/NOAA/Point Blue

Common Murre are ubiquitous here, nesting by the thousands. While cruising through the area, we’ve encountered large rafts of them floating out in the open and the cry of a father Common Murre searching for his baby chick can be heard frequently. Image Credit: Jenny Woodman/ACCESS/NOAA/Point Blue

The Cassin’s Auklet live offshore, you won’t see them as they are not a coastal or near-shore species. They come on land at night to breed and nest in burrows underground. The rest of the year they live out in the open ocean. They are fans of krill, the small shrimp-like crustacean that lures so many critters to the region. “Since Auklets are a lot more abundant than Blue Whales, we can use Cassin’s as indicators,” says Kirsten Lindquist, birder on this ACCESS cruise. They are underwater flyers; some birds swim with their feet and keep their wings retracted underwater. Using their wings, Cassin’s and Common Murres fly underwater. Image Credit: Point Blue Conservation Science

Rhinoceros Auklet are similar to Cassin’s Auklet in foraging and nesting, but they are less abundant in the area. They eat fish, not krill, primarily what’s available. Juvenile rockfish are the preferred food choice, but they will eat larger anchovies, which can be problematic because they may be too large for chicks to consume. Image Credit: Farallon Islands Foundation

Click on the captions to expand and read more.

The sound is deafening — a symphony composed of 350,000 seabirds screeching and calling to each other. Ask a table full of scientists in the mess hall what it sounds like when you first set foot on the Farallon Islands and they answer in unison: cacophony.

The islands are home to the largest nesting colonies of seabirds south of Alaska.

Competition for real estate on the Farallons is minimal because each species has different needs. Pigeon Guillemots nest in rocky crevices and talus slopes, while the Common Murres find safety in numbers, perched atop steep cliffs and outcrops by the thousands. Rhinoceros and Cassin’s Auklets come on land at night and burrow underground to lay their eggs.

After decades of observations, scientists have learned a great deal about these creatures, but much of the research only occurs when the birds come ashore to breed in the summer. How do we know about birds that spend the vast majority of their lives out in the open ocean where few humans visit?

Some information is gleaned by sending teams on scientific expeditions like this ACCESS cruise, undertaken via a partnership between North-Central National Marine Sanctuaries and Point Blue Conservation Science. Wildlife observers spend most of each day conducting visual surveys, counting seabirds and marine mammals with a level of precision that is impressive to a non-scientist watching from the sidelines.

At various points each day, the ship stops to collect water and biological samples to understand food distribution in the region. By comparing the visual counts of animals with the samples collected, scientists can help determine predictable locations where food in the ocean lead to birds and mammals aggregating. Identifying where these hotspots overlap with human activity may help reduce negative impacts such as ship strikes and entanglements.

Adding tagging technology to these data sets enriches the picture even more.

Screen Shot 2018-07-07 at 8.37.56 AM — A short sample of a time-depth recorder (TDR) dive profile of a single Cassin’s auklet. The different depths and durations of dives can tell scientists about prey availability and dive success. Image Credit: Point Blue Conservation Science

Researchers can combine tracking and dive patterns to show when birds are going to forage and where they’re finding food. The types of dives and how deep they’re going can tell you how deep the prey is, according to Kirsten Lindquist.

Lindquist is the ecosystem monitoring manager for the Greater Farallones Association (GFA); she is also the birder for this cruise and has conducted field work on the islands. “We only know food conditions when they are breeding,” she said.

According to Lindquist, data gathered over the years has revealed details such as clutch size, diet, nesting timing and success, but this information only reflects what is happening during the summer.

In Far from Land: The Mysterious Lives of Seabirds, Michael Brooke writes, “It can be quite rare for observers to see the birds actually feeding. Is this because the birds manage to catch enough food to last, say, a couple of days during infrequent bouts of gorging, or is it because much feeding happens at night when they cannot be seen?”

“How do you tell the story of fledging on into the next spring? Where are these birds going?” Lindquist asks. Breeding season is one window – it’s just a snapshot in time, she explains.

In other words, the lives of seabirds remain a bit of a mystery.

Screen Shot 2018-07-07 at 8.48.11 AM — Geolocator (GLS) position estimates of a single Cassin’s auklet over an 8-month period, which made a movement south to Southern California in the winter of 2017-18. Image Credit: Point Blue Conservation Science

Jaime Jahncke, California Current Group director for Point Blue Conservation Science, points out that data from GLS tags on Cassin’s Auklets during the non-breeding season has shown that birds from the Farallon Islands disperse much farther than the scientists on the Point Blue team originally thought.

“A single bird can go as far south as Baja, California and others have gone as far north as Oregon,” said Jahncke. “This makes conservation efforts a real challenge.”

While breeding on the islands the birds are protected by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Refuge. When foraging, they’re protected within the Sanctuaries. Discovering the birds range is extended after the breeding season puts these conservation scientists in uncharted territories, because they don’t know what threats these birds face beyond the protected boundaries previously studied, said Jahncke.

Elsewhere, observations are also captured in the field by scientists like George Divoky. Each summer, he lives alone on a barrier island in the Arctic with a small colony of breeding Mandt’s Black Guillemots. He visits all the nests daily, weighing chicks and collecting data. In spite of the longevity of his 44-year study, each season seems to bring new insights, especially as the technology aiding this work gets smaller, faster, and smarter.

When unexpected snow and cold in Alaska delayed the arrival of Divoky’s Black Guillemots in June, he looked at previous year’s data from geolocators and determined that they were most likely waiting in nearby Nuvuk and would arrive as soon as their nesting boxes were clear of snow, which they eventually did.

Every spring when the guillemots return, he removes the geolocators to download data about where the birds have been spending time over the winter. In addition to aiding his own research, this data is being used by several graduate students and organizations such as SENSEI (a French research group funded by BNP Paribas) seeking to better understand the impacts of climate change in the Arctic.

Screen Shot 2018-07-07 at 8.48.55 AM — GPS track of a single Rhinoceros Auklet over a 4-day period, part of a collaborative project with Scott Shaffer from San Jose State. Image Credit: Point Blue Conservation Science

Using GPS or Geolocator (GLS) tags reveal different information. The GPS used on a Rhinoceros Auklet from the Farallon Islands offered a very detailed map of where the seabird traveled during one four-day period, whereas a GLS tag helped researchers map the places seabirds traveled from month to month during the non-breeding season. “One is more fine scale movements in a foraging area and one is less fine scale trying to get data over winter,” said Lindquist.

To scientists like Divoky, Jahncke, and Lindquist, technology may hold the key to a deeper understanding of the lives of seabirds where they spend most of their time — at sea.

Lindquist said, “I’m drawn to deep, untouched wilderness and the wild things that make their home there. The ocean has a lot of that close to shore.” She explained that they can leverage the number of years of seabird data and new information from technology to tell the story of the species and the pressures they are facing in a rapidly changing world.

Jenny Woodman, Proteus founder and executive director, is a science writer and educator living in the Pacific Northwest. Follower her on Twitter @JennyWoodman.

Eggs, eggs everywhere: The Cassin’s by Point Blue at Los Farallones

Seeking Seabirds by Rich Stallcup

Explore the Farallon Islands National Wildlife Refuge by Maps for Good

Los Farallones Blog by Point Blue Conservation Science

Tags Arctic, Black Guillemots, Breeding, Climate Change, Conservation, Cooper Island, Geolocators, Greater Farallones, National Marine Sanctuaries, NOAA, Ocean, Point Blue, Science Communication, Seabirds, Wildlife

Arctic Change

Work Worth Doing

Post author By Jenny Woodman
Post date July 1, 2018

George Divoky in the field at a Cooper Island nest site in 1972. Image Credit: George Divoky

G. Divoky at BG-1 1972 — George Divoky in the field at the first Black Guillemot nest site discovered on Cooper Island in 1972. Image Credit: George Divoky

The Cooper Island Black Guillemot study was recently mentioned in an Associated Press story by Seth Borenstein about researchers who “accidentally” began studying climate change. A number of scientists measuring a biological phenomenon have encountered unanticipated effects from climate change and understood those effects were more important, both biologically and politically, than what originally motivated them to initiate their research. The 44-year Cooper Island study has undergone a number of changes before its current focus on assessing the decadal effects of Arctic warming on seabirds.

When I first landed on Cooper Island in 1975, I had no intention of studying climate change or global warming.

Neither the globe nor the Arctic had warmed in the decades immediately preceding the start of my study. Research at the Cooper Island Black Guillemot colony started as part of a large federal program assessing Alaska’s then largely unknown marine ecosystems in anticipation of leasing offshore waters for oil development. Cooper Island was the furthest north of many seabird colonies in coastal Alaska where biologists documented the extent and basic biology of the state’s seabird resources in the late 1970s. When that program ended in 1981, due to a change of administrations and a less urgent need to move forward with offshore drilling, it had provided sufficient information for the drafting of environmental impact statements.

In 1982, lacking federal funding, and possibly more importantly logistical support, I made the decision to return to Cooper Island to continue the Black Guillemot study. I had developed a real attachment to northern Alaska with its field seasons of 24 hours of daylight and sea ice always visible just offshore. Through annual banding of breeding birds and their nestlings in the late 1970s, I had developed a population of largely known-history and known-age seabirds. I was initially drawn to the study of seabirds having read the works of British ornithologists conducting multi-year studies at a single colony and documenting the life histories of individual birds. Such work is beyond the scope and timeframe of pre-development environmental assessments and of federal agencies, with their frequently shifting agendas.

Only in the third decade of research was there an indication that increasing atmospheric temperatures were affecting the Black Guillemot colony. Earlier snowmelt in the 1990s allowed earlier initiation of breeding. Climate change impacts rapidly increased in the 21^st Century as decreasing sea ice and increasing sea surface temperatures reduced the guillemots’ preferred prey and greatly reduced breeding success. The least nuanced sign of Arctic warming, polar bears stranded on the island approaching our field camp, began in 2002 and this will certainly occur again this summer.

While monitoring the effects of climate change will continue to be the focus of the work, the study is now proceeding in ways never anticipated in 1975. Since 2011, we have deployed biologgers on the bands of guillemots to measure diving behavior during breeding and location and activity of birds during the nonbreeding season. That work is being continued and analyzed as part of the Sentinels of Sea Ice (SENSEI) project, which this fall will have our collaborators from France’s National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) hiring a post-doc to examine our demographic database.

Vicki Friesen of Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario has a graduate student, Drew Sauve, examining the genetics of individual guillemots and the heritability of the metrics we have obtained on breeding biology. Drew recently completed a master’s degree on the heritability of timing of egg laying and is beginning a doctoral program utilizing the Cooper Island colony and database. He will be joining me on the island later this month to gather additional genetic material.

As I walked around the colony this past week in this 44^th year of the study, determining nest ownership and dates of egg laying, it is extremely satisfying to know the data is part of a data set spanning six generations of guillemots and can provide unparalleled insights into the biology of an Arctic seabird experiencing a rapidly changing environment.

Alaska’s North Slope Snow-Free Season is Lengthening from University of Colorado Boulder

Exit, Pursued by Bear by George Divoky

Tags Arctic, Black Guillemots, Climate Change, Climate Data, Cooper Island, Field Reports, NOAA, Science Communication, Sea ice, Utqiaġvik

Arctic Change

Seabird Update

Post author By Jenny Woodman
Post date June 29, 2018

A pair of nesting guillemots from 2011. Image Credit: George Divoky

nanuk case pair — A pair of nesting guillemots from 2011. Image Credit: George Divoky

30 nests with eggs–about half of the active nests! In recent years, few eggs have been laid in July, but not this year.

Adult survival is apparently as low as last year (about 75 percent compared to the long-term average of 90 percent). Unlike last year, there are a number of 3-yr-olds that fledged in 2015 and have reached the age when guillemots first breed.

Screen Shot 2018-06-29 at 10.00.38 AM — Nonbreeding Peregrine Falcons occasionally stop by Cooper Island and are interested in both Black Guillemot adults and nestlings. This one was caught on a motion-sensitive camera as it hoped a chick might appear at the entrance. Image Credit: Goerge Divoky

While last year’s many widowed birds paired with their widowed neighbors (resulting in the decrease in nest sites) this year new birds are occupying the vacancies resulting from the increased mortality.

Guillemots typically don’t breed until their third year. There are even a few pairs this year with both members consisting of returning Cooper birds breeding for the first time.

Just finished the adult census as a Peregrine kept birds offshore or in sites for 2 days.

Getting the WeatherPort (which is basically a heavy-duty canvas structure, similar to a yurt) set up now — more later.

Black Guillemots Life History by Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Tags Arctic, Black Guillemots, Breeding, Climate Change, Cooper Island, Science Communication

Arctic Change

The First Egg!

Post author By Jenny Woodman
Post date June 25, 2018

P1000368-620x465 — Eggs in a Nanuk case (nest J-09) from a previous season. Image credit: George Divoky

FIRST EGG!!!

The first egg of the 2018 breeding season was laid today (June 24th) by White-Black-Gray (for more on bird banding, see link below). She fledged from Cooper Island in 1995 and has lived through a period of major climate change in the Arctic.

For the last decade, she has always been one of the first females to lay. Hoping she, and the other 150 guillemots in the colony, have a successful breeding season.

The somewhat bad news is that the Audubon cover girl is not back. While I have not been able to ascertain survival for all nests, it appears that the percentage of birds returning will be similar to last year: 20 to 25 percent. The high mortality again has surviving birds pairing with neighbors since there are almost no nonbreeding birds to recruit. Colony size will likely drop but, again, the amount is unknown now.

I’m still working out camp logistics and hoping the rest of the snow is gone soon so I can finish setting up camp.

Bird Banding by Alexandra Cleminson and Silke Nebel

Special delivery for the birds by George Divoky

Tags Arctic, Black Guillemots, Climate Change, Climate Data, Cooper Island, Field Camp, Field Reports

Arctic Change

Flying to Cooper

Post author By Jenny Woodman
Post date June 22, 2018

North Slope Search and Rescue helicopter dropping off George Divoky with all his gear for the 2018 field season. Image Credit: Leslie Pierce

This short one-minute video shows the approach to Cooper Island from a North Slope Search and Rescue Helicopter loaded with 800 pounds of gear and our intrepid field scientist, George Divoky. Video Credit: Leslie Pierce

This clip is part of an ongoing series titled Arctic Change centered around George Divoky’s 44th field season studying Black Guillemots, sea ice, and climate change on a remote Arctic island off the coast of Alaska. To donate and support Divoky’s work on Cooper Island, visit the Friends of Cooper Island.

Tags Arctic, Climate Change, Cooper Island, Field Reports, North Slope SAR, Utqiaġvik

Arctic Change

Making Camp in the Arctic

Post author By Jenny Woodman
Post date June 22, 2018

An aerial view of Cooper Island from 2014. Image Credit: George Divoky

Cooper 2014 — An aerial view of Cooper Island from 2014. Image Credit: George Divoky

Great to be back on Cooper island after two intense weeks of preparation in Seattle and Utqiaġvik. Arriving on the island begins an even more intense period as I need to turn the 8-by-12 foot cabin from the overwinter storage shed it has been for the past nine months into a place where I can sleep, cook, process data–and eventually even relax.

A low-level aerial shot of camp from just east, circa 2012. Image Credit: George Divoky

Concurrently, I have been setting up my power sources (solar and wind generators powering a battery bank) and communications (satellite phone, inReach and VHF radio) that keep the camp running and connected to the outside world. While the large snowdrift that currently surrounds my cabin impedes my accomplishing these tasks, it does provide my drinking water for the first half of the summer. Throughout the day I have been shoveling snow into any available container as the island has no fresh water and I need to melt as much snow as possible before it disappears.

All of the required logistics chores need to be balanced with the daily fieldwork. Since my arrival three days ago, conditions for censusing the colony and retrieving geolocators have been excellent with clear skies and little wind. While visiting all nest sites to determine who survived the winter and who is breeding with whom is the highest priority, I also need to retrieve the geolocators that I put on 25 birds at the end of the 2017 breeding season. Catching the birds in their nest cases has gone well this year with nine of the units retrieved in the past two days.

These light-sensitive data loggers record the time of sunrise and sunset each day allows me to determine their location for the nine months they have been away from the colony. We have deployed geolocators since 2011 and this year’s data is extremely important since the Bering Sea ice, where guillemots typically winter, did not form this past year. The effect of this unprecedented event on guillemot movements and distribution will be one of this summer’s most important findings.

guillemot2012 — Black Guillemots in 2012. Image Credit: George Divoky

I will know the size of this year’s breeding population in about a week and, since many of the females have had low colony attendance in the last few days and are likely offshore building up reserves for egg laying, the first clutches should be appearing within the next 4-5 days.

Looking forward to sharing what is promising to be a most interesting and important field season.

This field is part of an ongoing series titled Arctic Change centered around George Divoky’s 44th field season studying Black Guillemots, sea ice, and climate change on a remote Arctic island off the coast of Alaska. To donate and support Divoky’s work on Cooper Island, visit the Friends of Cooper Island.

Arctic Sea Ice a Major Determinant in Mandt’s Black Guillemot Movement and Distribution During Non-Breeding Season by George Divoky, David Douglas, and Iain Stenhouse

He’s Watching the World Melt by John D. Sutter

SENtinels of the SEa Ice – SENSEI on ResearchGate

The Sensei Blog

Tags Arctic, Black Guillemots, Climate Change, Cooper Island, featured, Field Camp, Field Reports, Geolocators, Utqiaġvik

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