NESTING SEABIRDS OF THE GULF OF ALASKA 



69 



horned puffin. 



Tufted puffin populations respond readily 

 to some undetermined short-term perturba- 

 tions. This is clearly demonstrated by their 

 rapid population fluctuations. Because of 

 their numbers and because of the apparent 

 rapidity with which their numbers rebound, it 

 is not so apparent that they have been af- 

 fected by long-term perturbations, as so many 

 other seabirds apparently have. 



There is much unused or underused nesting 

 habitat suitable for this species. In some 

 cases there are very strong clues pointing to 

 why this habitat is vacant. On many islands 

 along the Alaska Peninsula, which have very 

 good-looking tufted puffin nesting habitat 

 and no puffins, there are visible signs of the 

 presence of fox either fox trails or aban- 

 doned trappers' cabins. I also suspect that the 

 brown bear (Ursa arctos) is another possible 

 contributing factor to population declines of 

 burrow nesters along this coast. I have seen 

 brown bears swimming from island to island 

 on foraging expeditions. George J. Divoky 

 (personal communication) has found brown 

 bears visiting Ugaiushak Island, which is 

 13 km from shore. There are other islands be- 

 tween Ugaiushak and the mainland but the 

 shortest route from shore would require one 

 swim of 7 km. The motivation must be strong. 



Tufted puffins may shift from colony to 

 colony. This could be an explanation for ap- 

 parent local population fluctuation, but if so, 

 I am puzzled by the apparent tenacity with 

 which puffins cling to some sites. Their con- 

 stant occupancy of sites where the vegetative 

 mat is breakaway tundra (Amundsen 1972) or 

 is underlain by sand results in the destruction 

 of these sites. Tufted puffins often cling to 

 them in spite of the fact that they have been 

 reduced to "slums." 



My conclusion is that in spite of their large 

 numbers it appears that tufted puffin popula- 

 tions in the Gulf of Alaska probably have 

 been reduced to a level below that of their un- 

 disturbed state. 



Conclusions 



Seabird numbers in the Gulf of Alaska are 

 not static. Generally, they are probably much 

 less abundant than they were when Bering 



made his voyage of discovery. There are, 

 nonetheless, considerable numbers of seabirds 

 breeding along the coasts of these waters. 

 Some species show signs of recovery from 

 past insults by man. With enlightened man- 

 agement there is still time to preserve the 

 vast natural heritage that they represent and, 

 in many cases, to improve their status. 



In attempting to address a complicated 

 subject in short space and a relatively narrow 

 frame of reference, I have certainly erred a 

 number of times. I would like to see the 

 wealth of new data that will be derived from 

 current work applied to this concept. An un- 

 derstanding of past population fluctuations 

 and the underlying perturbations that they 

 reflect is essential for managers faced with 

 the problem of making good decisions on 

 measures to mitigate the potential adverse 

 impact of development. 



References 



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