94 USGS/BRD/ITR-2000-0012 



Columbia (and perhaps the world) but was all but 

 destroyed by the 1 930s because of human occupation 

 and commercial egging in the nineteenth century and 

 oil pollution in the early twentieth century. However, 

 from 1950 to 1982, the colony grew from a few thousand 

 to over 100,000 breeding birds. Then, in the 1980s, this 

 colony and others in the central California population 

 suffered heavily from gill-net and oil-spill mortalities 

 and declined significantly (Carter 1986; Ainley and 

 Boekelheide 1990; Takekawa et al. 1990). The history 

 of the murre colony at the South Farallon Islands is 

 relatively well documented, although the North Farallon 

 Islands are among the least known colonies. Below, I 

 review the history of Farallon murre colonies in detail 

 because breeding biology and colony trends at the 

 South Farallon Islands have been well studied in recent 

 years and are often cited without reference to the 

 extensive historical impacts this colony has undergone 

 or the amount of information available on the size and 

 status of the colony during certain historical periods. In 

 particular, estimates of colony size before 1979 are not 

 directly comparable to more recent estimates. 



Russian American Fur Company (1812-1838) 



The earliest reported landing on the South Farallon 

 Islands was by Sir Francis Drake aboard the Golden 

 Hind in 1 579 when the ship stopped on 23-24 July to 

 collect seal meat and seabirds for food (Hoover 1952; 

 White 1995). In 1807, the Boston sealing ship O'Cain 

 visited the Farallon Islands and vast numbers of marine 

 mammals were noted (Bancroft 1886; Doughty 1974; 

 White 1995). From 1810 to 1812, several sealing visits 

 were made by American sealers. From 1 8 1 2 to 1 838, the 

 Russian American Fur Company, in business with 

 American sealers, operated a sealing station at the South 

 Farallon Islands staffed by native people from Alaska 

 and California who mainly harvested fur seals 

 (Callorhinus ursinus), elephant seals (Mirounga 

 augustirostris), and sea lions (Bancroft 1886; White 

 1995). 



In 1 8 1 7, about 30 people lived on the islands. After 

 1818, seal numbers were much lower but people 

 remained to kill sea lions and birds and to collect eggs. 

 Annually, from 5,000 to 10,000 "gulls and other birds" 

 or "sea ducks" (probably murres) were killed and the 

 meat was dried for food (Bancroft 1886; Khlebnikov 

 1976). In 1828, 50,000 birds were killed and 3,61 1 Ibs 

 (1,638 kg) of meat were obtained from these birds 

 (Khlebnikov 1976). Harvest also occurred on the North 

 Farallon Islands where Russians and "Kadiaks" were 

 noted in May 1825 (Bancroft 1886). Feathers and meat 

 were sent to the main Russian establishment in 

 California at Fort Ross, Sonoma County. In 1 827 and 



1828, respectively, nine and 1 1 inflated skins of marine 

 mammals filled with 1,083 and 1,192 Ibs (4,423 and 

 5,405 kg) of feathers were sent to Fort Ross; "a good 

 many eggs" also were collected and used for subsistence 

 on the islands, shipped to Fort Ross, and exported to 

 Alaska (Khlebnikov 1976; Essig et al. 1991). At this 

 time, about 30 people still lived on the islands. Egging 

 probably occurred from the earliest days of the sealing 

 station. In 1819, Chichinoff (Hoover 1952; Hillinger 

 1958) noted subsistence harvesting of seabird eggs. In 

 1825, Morrell (Hoover 1952; Hillinger 1958) noted that 

 "Aquatic birds in considerable variety resort hither for 

 purposes of laying and incubation, but the Russians 

 seldom give them a chance for the latter process, 

 generally securing eggs as fast as they are deposited." 

 The Russians withdrew from the establishment at the 

 Farallon Islands in 1838 and from Fort Ross in 1841. 

 However, the extensive hunting of seabirds by the 

 Russian American Fur Company over at least two 

 decades must have caused a massive decline in the size 

 of the murre colony, as well as that of many other seabird 

 and marine mammal species. In addition, sporadic 

 hunting continued on the islands during the 1840s 

 (Bancroft 1 886) that probably continued to disrupt the 

 colony, although at a lower level than previously. 



Farallone Egg Company and Murre Egging 

 (1849-1881) 



Small-scale commercial egging was first conducted 

 by "Doc" Robinson and O. Dorman in 1849 (White 

 1995; Brown 1999). Commercial egging began in 

 earnest in 1850 by several different interests but 

 eventually came under the sole control of the Pacific or 

 Farallone Egg Company (Hutchings 1856; Scammon 

 1875; Greene 1892; Emerson 1904; Doughty 1971; 

 White 1995). Eggs were supplied to bakeries and 

 restaurants before the establishment of sufficient 

 domestic poultry production for the rapidly expanding 

 human population of the San Francisco area during the 

 Gold Rush that began in 1 848. Between 3 and 4 million 

 eggs (Hutchings 1856; Taylor 1895) had been brought 

 to market since 1 850 (or an average of 428,57 1-571 ,429 

 eggs per year, based on my calculations). 



Heermann (1853) noted that "a trade (in eggs) is 

 carried on with San Francisco, to the amount of thousands 

 of dollars per annum," in 1853. Heermann (1859) 

 reported that the annual value of eggs reached $ 100,000- 

 200,000, based on his 1853 visit. This profit seemed 

 high to Palmer (1900), evidently because at the highest 

 reported retail prices of $1.00-1.50 per dozen, profits 

 should have been between $35,7 1 4 and 7 1 ,429 per year 

 using Hutchings' (1856) reported harvest levels. 

 However, Taylor ( 1 86 1 ) reported that egg prices in 1 849 



