NESTING SEABIRDS OF THE GULF OF ALASKA 



53 



1,600-km round trip from the colonies in the 

 Semidi Islands. Birds from the Barren Is- 

 lands and any colonies around Shuyak Island 

 could easily reach the Montague Island 

 grounds, but why would they cross the Port- 

 lock Banks to do so? 



Fulmar colonies may be found in the Chis- 

 well Islands. It is also a possibility that the 

 existence of colonies on islands along the 

 north coast of Afognak Island will be verified 

 and that others will be found in the vicinity of 

 Shuyak Island. Gabrielson and Lincoln (1959) 

 expressed the opinion that there is almost cer- 

 tainly a colony on Sutwik Island. If there is 

 one, however, I did not see it on one quick trip 

 around the island in 1973. 



Gabrielson (1940) expressed surprise at the 

 size of the Semidi Island breeding colony. 

 Gabrielson and Lincoln (1959) considered 

 1911 to be the first time breeding fulmars 

 were found in the Shumagins. They ap- 

 parently based this on two eggs collected 

 there that year and documented in a plate in 

 Bent (1964). Other than Gabrielson's opinion, 

 there is nothing to indicate a major change in 

 fulmar status during this century. If there has 

 been a change in status, it has probably been 

 in the direction of increasing populations. 



Fork-tailed Storm-petrel (Oceanodroma 



furcata) 



The fork-tailed storm-petrel probably 

 breeds throughout the Gulf of Alaska. It is 

 abundant at sea during the summer in most 

 offshore waters. Murie (1959) described it as 

 the dominant petrel in the Bering Sea and the 

 North Pacific. 



In view of its wide distribution and ap- 

 parent abundance very little is known about 

 the fork-tailed storm-petrel's breeding colo- 

 nies. Friedmann (1935) recorded specimens 

 and eggs from Kodiak dating back to 1843. 

 Murie (1959) noted them as nesting on Sanak 

 Island and stated that they almost certainly 

 nested in the Shumagins and on other islands 

 along the Alaska Peninsula. David Roseneau 

 (Isleib and Kessel 1973) found this storm- 

 petrel "breeding by the 10,000's" on East 

 Amatuli Island in the Barren Islands in June 

 1965. This was subsequently verified in 1974 

 by Edgar P. Bailey (unpublished report, FWS, 

 Anchorage, Alaska). 



On 2 July 1972, responding to a tip by 



James W. Brooks (personal communication), 

 M. E. Isleib and I anchored at Fish Island in 

 the Wooded Islands. We did not locate any 

 storm-petrel burrows, but a steady flow of 

 storm-petrels passed over the boat through- 

 out the darkest part of the night. Surveys 

 conducted at about that time provided an es- 

 timate of 19,000 fork-tailed storm-petrels in 

 Prince William Sound, primarily in or close to 

 Montague Strait, and in coastal waters on the 

 east side of the Sound's outer islands. In this 

 area Isleib (personal communication) has 

 noted a general movement of fork-tailed 

 storm-petrels westward around Montague Is- 

 land and into Prince William Sound through 

 Montague Strait each morning and a corre- 

 sponding countermovement each evening. I 

 conclude that in 1972 there was a Class IV 

 colony in the Wooded Islands, numbering be- 

 tween 19,000 and 38,000 birds. Additional 

 colonies will be discovered in a similar manner 

 as more systematic searches are made. 



No colonies were discovered during the 1973 

 reconnaissance survey of the islands south of 

 Alaska Peninsula. Working primarily inshore, 

 FWS investigators encountered very few 

 storm-petrels during the day. On the night of 

 14 June, the FWS vessel, Aleutian Tern, re- 

 sponded to a Mayday call and was either in 

 transit or participating in rescue operations 

 from 2245 to 0420 h on the morning of 15 

 June. During this period numerous fork-tailed 

 storm-petrels were encountered, particularly 

 off Cape Wedge on Nagai Island. After we 

 anchored in Eagle Harbor on Nagaij more 

 storm-petrels were heard about the vessel. 



At about this same date, National Marine 

 Fisheries Service enforcement officers flying 

 fisheries patrols observed storm-petrels in 

 abundance south of the Shumagin Islands 

 (James Branson, personal communication). 

 These observations support the belief that 

 there are probably substantial undiscovered 

 colonies in the Shumagin Islands. 



Fork-tailed storm-petrels are abundant 

 summer residents in the northern Gulf of 

 Alaska and the estimate by Isleib and Kessel 

 (1973) is that populations using the waters off 

 the North Gulf Coast probably number in the 

 millions. Certainly the same estimate is valid 

 for the rest of the Gulf area west of the Chu- 

 gach Islands. 



The status of these birds relative to their 



