investigations have failed to show evidence of 

 breeding. Summer observers have all recorded 

 this species in the Chukchi. Nelson (1883) 

 found it north to the pack ice. Jacques (1930) 

 saw it occasionally south of 71° N and abun- 

 dantly south of 68°30' N in late August. Both 

 Swartz (1967) and Alverson, Wilimovsky and 

 Wilke (1960) found it to be uncommon in the 

 southeast Chukchi in August. Fulmars were 

 observed in early September by marine science 

 technicians aboard the GLACIER. Their most 

 northerly sighting was made at 72°22' N, 

 167 °22' W on 6 September. The species was 

 last observed on 17 September at 71° 27' N, 

 167° 15' W. We did not observe it in the Chukchi 

 at all, but it was present in the Bering Strait 

 throughout the day of 18 October (fig. 5). 

 Most sightings were of less than five individ- 

 uals; and all observations were of light phase 

 birds. Jacques (1930) is the only observer to 

 have seen dark phase birds in the Chukchi. 

 They constituted roughly 1 percent of all the 

 fulmars he observed. In the Pacific, dark phase 

 individuals predominate in the southern por- 

 tion of the breeding range and do not breed 

 north of the Pribilofs. The fulmar is primarily 

 a scavenger and obtains its food by surface 

 feeding. 



Slender-billed Shearwater (Puffimis 

 tenuirostris) 



The Slender-billed Shearwater breeds on 

 islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean from 

 September to May and migrates to the north- 

 ern hemisphere from June to October. It is 

 abundant in the Bering Sea in the summer and 

 fall, and smaller numbers are found in the 

 Chukchi Sea from July to November. Observa- 

 tions from this area in the fall are probably of 

 nonbreeding individuals. Nelson (1883) "sev- 

 eral times" saw birds he believed to be this 

 species. Jacques (1930) found it extremely 

 abundant in the western Chukchi in late Aug- 

 U!5t. Swartz (1967) reported it most frequent 

 in the Point Hope and Cape Thompson area, 

 with one of the sightings a flock of 500 to 1,000 

 individuals. Alverson, Wilimov.sky, and Wilke 

 (1960) observed it in increasing numbers in 

 the month of August and groups of 200 to 300 

 were seen at the end of the month. 



Marine science technicians aboard the GLA- 

 CIER observed Slender-billed Shearwaters in 



the Chukchi in early and mid-September. Their 

 most northerly sighting was made on 17 Sep- 

 tember at 71°27' N, 167°35' W, and their last 

 sighting on 20 September at 68°22' N, 

 167 54' W. We only saw it south of 67° N in 

 the Bering Strait on 18 October when it was 

 observed on 12 of the thirty 20-minute intervals 

 (fig. 6). Nine of these observations were of 

 less than five individuals though flocks of up 

 to 100 birds were observed on two occasions, 

 east of East Cape and west of Cape Prince of 

 Wales. Our lack of sightings in the study area 

 indicates that most Slender-billed Shearwaters 

 had left that area by late September. It oc- 

 casionally stays later; Brower observed thou- 

 sands at Barrow in September and October 

 associated with the ice (Bailey 1948). The 

 species feeds on the surface or, less commonly, 

 dives for euphasid crustaceans, pelagic fish, 

 and cephalopods. 



Pelagic Cormorant (Phalacrocorax pelagicus) 



The Pelagic Cormorant breeds commonly 

 south of the Bering Strait but it is found only 

 sparingly in the Chukchi Sea and probably does 

 not nest north of the Cape Lisburne cliffs. 

 When the Cape Thompson cliffs were censused 

 in 1961 they were found to support 23 pairs 

 (Swartz, 1966). Like other cormorants it is 

 rare out of sight of land and has been observed 

 only infrequently by pelagic observers. Nelson 

 (1883) saw two birds in the area of Herald 

 and Wrangel Islands. Jacques (1930) did not 

 encounter it north of the Bering Strait. Swartz 

 (1967) reported four observations, all near 

 nesting cliffs. There are five records for Bar- 

 row in the spring, summer and fall and a Jan- 

 uary record for Wainwright (Bailey, 1948). 

 We saw the species only once on 18 October 

 when two birds were observed flying approxi- 

 mately 15 miles south of Cape Prince of Wales 

 (fig. 12). Cormorants feed by diving for fish. 



Oldsquaw (Clangula hyemalis) 



The Oldsquaw is circumpolar north of 50° N 

 in its breeding distribution and nests abun- 

 dantly on both sides of the Chukchi Sea. It is 

 rarely observed far from land during the sum- 

 mer. It winters generally well south of the 

 breeding range, but individuals have been ob- 

 served at Barrow in early December. The only 

 fall migration data for the arctic coast are 

 those of Bailey (1948) who saw large flocks 



115 



