TABLE 2 



Seahird abundance (density and number per hour) recorded 

 during 10-minute transects in the southern Chukchi Sea by water type. 



Northern fulmar iFidmanis glucialis) 



Short-tailed shearwater (Puffiniis tenuirostris) 



Red phalarope (.Phalawpus fuUcaria) 



phalarope sp. (Phalaropus sp.) 



Pomarine jaeger [Srerconiriiis pomunnus) 



Long-tailed jaeger (Slercorariiis longicaiuliis) 



jaeger sp. iSleicorariiis sp.) 



Herring gull {Uiius argentatus) 



Glaucous gull (Lcinis hxperboreus) 



Black-legged kittiwake (Rissa tridaayla) 



Sabine's gull (Xema sabini) 



Arctic tern {Stenui paradisaea) 



Common murre iUria aalge) 



Thick-billed murre Wria loinvia) 



murre sp. {Uria sp.) 



Kittlitz"s murrelet (Brachyramphus hrevirostris) 



Parakeet auklet (Cyctorrhynchus psittacidu) 



Least uuklet (Afthia pusilla) 



Crested auklet [Aelhia crisiatella) 



auklet sp. {Aelhia sp.) 



Tufted puffin {Fratercula cirrhata) 



Horned puffin {.Fralercula conncuUita) 



TOTAL 



60.7 



765.3 



15.2 



194.7 



4.5 



56.8 



Homed Puffin (Fratercula corniculata) . Homed puffins 

 were most abundant in BS AW ( Tables 2.3) and were unrecorded 

 in ACW. This puffin was observed near Stations 58.59, 69, 70. 

 and 72-75. All of these locations lie within 90 km of small 

 colonies (<l,000 individuals) in the southwestern portion of 

 the study area at Cape Serdtse Kamen, Cape Dezhnev. and 

 Little DiomedeIsland(Sowls em/. , 1978; NOAA, 1988). No 

 homed puffins were recorded west of the Cape Lisbume and 

 Cape Thompson colonies at distances greater than 45-60 km, 

 even though one large (1,000-10,000 individuals) and several 

 small colonies are close to the Station 49-53 transect line 

 (Frontispiece). 



Differences in seahird abundances between SCW and BSAW 

 were not significant (Mann-Whitney U.Z = -1.139. 

 /» = 0.2545). 



Analyses of the 1 5-min station counts indicated that seabirds 

 were more abundant in SCW than BSAW (Mann-Whitney if. 

 Z = -1.967. P = 0.0491) and in SCW than ACW (Mann- 

 Whitney f/.Z=-2.393,P=0.0167). Differences in abundances 

 between BSAW and ACW were not significant ( Mann- Whitney 

 f/. Z = - 1 .025, P = 0.3052). Because over 879^ of the seabirds 

 in SCW were short-tailed shearwaters, this species was largely 

 re.sponsible for influencing the differences in seabird abundances 

 observed among water mass types. 



Seahird Abundances Across water Mass Txpes 



Differences in total seabird abundances among the three 

 water masses as detected by both 10-min transects (// = 7.848, 

 P = 0.0198) and 1 5-min station counts were significant 

 (H = 7.247, P = 0.0267: Table 4). Seabirds were significantly 

 more abundant in SCW than ACW (Mann-Whitney U, 

 Z= -2.542. P = 0.01 1 ) and more abundant in BSAW than ACW 

 (MannWhitney (/,Z = -2.156, P = 0.0311) as detected by 

 10-min transects. 



Discussion 



Seabird species recorded in the southern Chukchi Sea 

 tended to fall into one of four groups: rare/local vagrants, 

 terrestrial postbreeders, locally-breeding marine species, and 

 long-distance migrants. The status of each species strongly 

 influenced their use of (or detected affinities for) the three 

 Chukchi Sea water masses. At least four species nest inland on 



386 



