Monitoring seabird populations in areas of oil and gas development on the Alaskan continental shelf: Foraging distribution and feeding ecology of seabirds at the Diomede Islands, bering strait. Final report

Technical Report · Thu Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1992

OSTI ID:6296114

Piatt, J F; Pinchuk, A; Kitsiskiy, A; Springer, A M; Hatch, S A

The distribution of zooplankton and seabirds in relation to oceanography in Bering Strait was investigated July 1-8, 1991. Seabirds were counted at the sea surface on 302 standardized shipboard transects. Zooplankton densities in various depth strata were measured acoustically during 287 seabird transects. Species composition was determined from 65 net-tows at 18 stations. Sea surface salinity and temperature were recorded continuously on transects, and CTD profiles of the water column were obtained at 70 stations. Millions of seabirds, mostly planktivorous Aethial auklets, breed on the Diomede islands in the center of Bering Strait. Three distinct water masses flow north through Bering Strait. East of the Diomedes is the Alaska Coastal Water. Least Auklets and ocean copepods were abundant in stratified Shelf Water and near upwelled Anadyr Water in western Bering Strait. It was concluded that physical processes in Bering Strait determine zooplankton availability to planktivores.

• Research Organization: Alaska Fish and Wildlife Research Center, Anchorage, AK (United States)
• OSTI ID: 6296114
• Report Number(s): PB-93-194074/XAB
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020900* -- Petroleum-- Environmental Aspects
03 NATURAL GAS
030800 -- Natural Gas-- Environmental Aspects
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540350 -- Environment
Aquatic-- Site Resource & Use Studies-- (1990-)
ABUNDANCE
ALASKA
ANIMALS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
ARTHROPODS
AVAILABILITY
BIOLOGY
BIOMASS
BIRDS
COASTAL REGIONS
CONTINENTAL MARGIN
CONTINENTAL SHELF
COPEPODS
CROPS
CRUSTACEANS
DENSITY
DEPTH
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
DIMENSIONS
DISTRIBUTION
ECOLOGY
ENERGY SOURCES
FOOD
INVERTEBRATES
ISLANDS
MONITORING
NORTH AMERICA
OCEANOGRAPHY
OILS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PLANKTON
POPULATIONS
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
SALINITY
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
UPWELLING
USA
VERTEBRATES
ZOOPLANKTON