Seabird, fisheries, marine mammal, and oceanographic investigations around Kasatochi, Koniuji, and Ulak Islands, August 1996 (SMMOCI 96-3)

Abstract

Although islands in the Aleutians are known to support some of the highest densities of seabirds in the world, their remoteness has limited systematic research on the at-sea distribution of seabirds near these colonies. Kasatochi, Koniuji, and Ulak islands, in the central Aleutian Islands, together comprise one of nine ecological sites monitored once every 5 years on an annual rotation since 1996 by the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge (AMNWR). To supplement annual colony monitoring and examine seabird distribution away from colony sites, the AMNWR personnel in conjunction with U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) researchers, conducted a pelagic survey of the waters around these 3 islands in 1996. Previous research in this area has focused on the seabird colony sites located on Kasatochi, Koniuji, and Ulak islands. Although boat-based circumnavigations have been used to evaluate colony populations (Early et al. 1981; Bailey and Trapp 1986; Byrd and Williams 1994; Byrd 1995a, 1995b), wide ranging pelagic surveys to examine foraging patterns had not previously been conducted near the islands. The goal of this survey was to examine foraging patterns of the seabirds nesting in the study area and identify factors that may explain seabird distribution patterns.