56 USGS/BRD/ITR-2000-0012 



(1,100), Quillayute Needles (900), James Island (750), 

 Cake Rock (300), White Rock (250), and Tatoosh Island 

 (100). Murres have not been otherwise observed on 

 James Island, but are known to occupy adjacent rocks 

 now known as Petrel Island ( "Kohchaa[uh]") and 

 Gunsight Rock. Quillayute Needles represents a colony 

 complex with several recent colonies: Huntington 

 Island, Cakesosta, and Table Rock. In addition, murres 

 were reported in the early 1 970s at Flat Rock south of 

 Split Rock (300) and Giant's Graveyard (150; Speich 

 and Wahl 1989). These observations apparently reflect 

 irregular attendance or colony misidentification. At 

 Point Grenville and Giant's Graveyard, specific islands 

 attended by murres were not identified. 



Many of Washington's largest murre colonies are 

 located on top of flat-topped sea stacks or islands (see 

 Appendix I: Figures 1-33 to 1-37). It is impossible to see 

 all attending birds, and in some cases even to determine 

 if murres are present, when circumnavigating these 

 islands by boat. In historical information, it is also 

 unclear whether all colonies were surveyed, if counts 

 on adjacent colonies were lumped and reported under 

 one colony name, or if colonies were properly identified. 

 In addition, murre attendance at colonies in 1906-07, 

 1959, and the early 1970s may have been affected by El 

 Ninos (Quinn et al. 1987). Colonization of Tatoosh 

 Island by 1956 indicates the population may have 

 expanded in the mid-twentieth century. 



Suspected increases may reflect lower levels of 

 activities by native people along the coast because of 

 changes in traditional lifestyles. For example, camps of 

 native people on Tatoosh and Destruction islands were 

 abandoned. However, the decline of native populations 

 and the rate of arrival and number of Euro-American 

 settlers in western Washington was not as pervasive or 

 extensive as in California and Oregon. Native people 

 were confined to reservations along most of the outer 

 coast and early settlers in the 1880s and 1890s tended 

 to move into Puget Sound or the eastern areas on the 

 Olympic Peninsula (Evans 1983). Large coastal areas 

 were included in Mount Olympus National Monument 

 and Olympic National Forest in the early 1900s. Some 

 of these areas became part of Olympic National Park in 

 1938. Much of the outer Washington coast also remained 

 inaccessible by land until 1931 when the Olympic loop 

 highway (i.e., Highway 101) was completed. Thus, the 

 outer coast of Washington was spared from many effects 

 from early settlers. 



Military bombing of Sea Lion Rock (north of 

 Willoughby Rock) in southern Washington occurred 

 from 1944 to 1992 (Speich et al. 1987). Carroll Island, 

 Rounded Island, Sea Lion Rock, and Split Rock also 



were practice bombing targets during World War II and 

 were bombed extensively with heavy ordinance. Several 

 murre colonies were probably affected by low-flying 

 aircraft en route to and from Sea Lion Rock and other 

 target islands, including Willoughby Rock, Split Rock, 

 and possibly Grenville Arch. Similar problems probably 

 occurred after World War II. Lighthouse keepers and 

 associated activities may have prevented breeding at 

 Tatoosh Island from the late nineteenth century to the 

 1950s, but rats (Rattus spp.) and cats (Felis catus) were 

 not introduced (Kenyon and Scheffer 1962). An 

 accidental fire caused by researchers at Carroll Island 

 burned the top of the island in 1969, but it is unclear if 

 murres were affected since they bred on other parts of 

 the island at that time (M. L. Cody, personal 

 communication). 



Current Population Size and Distribution of 

 Breeding Colonies in Washington 



During 1979-95, murres were recorded at 32 

 different locations along the outer coast of Washington 

 (Appendixes F and G). Most counts at these locations 

 did not provide information on the breeding status of 

 attending birds. Eighteen locations have been 

 designated as colonies (Figure 2.9) based on historical 

 or recent observations of breeding (i.e., eggs or chicks 

 seen) or regular attendance of rocks with suitable 

 breeding habitats. As noted above, historical breeding 

 (pre-1979) had been confirmed only at Carroll Island 

 and Willoughby Rock (Dawson 1907; Jones 1909; 

 Jewett et al. 1953). In 1980-82, U. W. Wilson 

 (unpublished data) observed chicks during the last week 

 of June and first week of July at Grenville Arch, Split 

 Rock, Willoughby Rock, and Cakesosta. On 27 August 

 1985, S. M. Speich collected one egg at Grenville Arch 

 and four eggs at Willoughby Rock (WFVZ Nos. 

 149,537-149,541). On 4 September 1985, S. M. Speich 

 collected an abandoned egg at Split Rock (WFVZ No. 

 149,536). On 3 June 1987, F. Dobler (unpublished data) 

 collected several murre chicks near colony departure 

 that were accidentally killed on Jagged Island. On 19 

 June 1995, U. W. Wilson (unpublished data) observed 

 medium-sized chicks on Huntington Island, and noted 

 several large young on 13 July 1995 at this colony. On 

 18 July 1995, U. W. Wilson (unpublished data) and G. 

 Burrell visited Carroll Island and found one abandoned 

 murre egg. Murres breed regularly at the Tatoosh colony 

 complex where long-term studies of murre behavior and 

 reproductive success are under way (Paine et al. 1990; 

 Parrish 1995). Breeding may have occurred at several 

 of the other 14 sites but adequate documentation (see 

 below) to confirm breeding status is lacking. 



