Burger 



Chapter 29 



Marine Distribution, Abundance, Habitats in British Columbia 



Jervis Inlet (August 1986 - June 1987) 



Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 



Saanich Inlet - March - December 1986 



Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 



Sidney - Mandarte Island transect (May 1992 - May 1993) 



4 



Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 



Figure 3 Mean monthly densities of Marbled Murrelets in the Strait of Georgia. Data are from fixed shoreline transects 

 in the fjords of Jervis Inlet (Vermeer 1989), and Saanich Inlet (Morgan 1989), and from a fixed transect among the 

 southern Gulf Islands, between Sidney and Mandarte Island (Clowater, pers. comm.) . One survey was done per month, 

 except as otherwise noted. ND = no data. 



Stationary counts of Marbled Murrelets at the mouth of 

 Mussel Inlet were high in 1991 (>500 on several days) but 

 lower in 1992 and 1993 (Prestash and others 1992a; Prestash, 

 pers. comm.). These appear to be commuting birds, drawn 

 from an undetermined area, which are channeled through 

 narrow fjords en route to feeding areas in more open ocean. 

 I analyzed coarse-scale habitat use by using the material 

 in appendix 1. Habitats were classified as: 



E: exposed ocean (facing the open Pacific or exposed 

 parts of large straits); 



S: sheltered water in large strait or sound; 



I: smaller inlet; or 



F: steep-sided fjord. 



Within these categories were subcategories: 



OW: open water (>1 km from shore); 



NW: nearshore water (<1 km from shore); 



IS: among islands offering relatively sheltered water; 



OC: outer coast (for fjords or inlets); 



1C: inner coast (for fjords or inlets). 



Each survey was assigned to one or more combinations of 

 categories (see appendix 1). 



Exceptionally high mean densities in May and June (>5 

 birds/km) were associated with few habitats: sheltered waters 

 on the east of the Queen Charlotte Islands, SW Vancouver 

 Island, and Desolation Sound; and exposed nearshore waters 

 off SW Vancouver Island (table 2). Exceptionally low summer 

 densities (<1 bird/km) were found in sheltered nearshore 

 waters of NW Vancouver Island and fjords of the southern 

 mainland, southern Strait of Georgia and SW Vancouver 

 Island. This analysis is not entirely satisfactory, because 

 some transects covered large areas of diverse habitat, and the 

 habitat classification was not based on detailed field data. 



USDA Forest Service Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-152. 1995. 



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