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W. T. MUNRO AND R. W. CAMPBELL 



branch before they disturb them; they are 

 hardly secure. Provincial Parks Branch pro- 

 tects other areas used by marine birds by in- 

 corporating them within parks. 



Research and conservation of seabirds in 

 British Columbia have not been a high 

 priority in the Fish and Wildlife Branch, basi- 

 cally because seabirds are not consumed by 

 people. Our primary interest in seabirds has 

 been in their role as a life support system for 

 the peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus). Most 

 Fish and Wildlife Branch reserves have been 

 established to protect estuarine habitat for 

 fishes, waterfowl, and shorebirds rather than 

 for true seabirds. That situation is not likely 

 to change in the near future unless additional 

 funds become available to the Branch. About 

 the most we can expect to do is designate key 

 areas as sanctuaries or wildlife management 

 reserves. Under the folio and referral systems 

 now operational among resource agencies in 

 British Columbia, we have the opportunity to 

 advise other disciplines against approving 

 practices that would adversely affect wildlife. 

 By those methods we are attempting to pro- 

 tect critical seabird habitat. It must be 

 stressed, however, that we can only advise; we 

 cannot force other agencies to follow pro- 

 cedures we suggest. 



The only significant work relating to sea- 

 birds in which the Fish and Wildlife Branch is 

 presently engaged involves inventory of 

 specific sites on the Queen Charlotte Islands 

 and the northwest mainland coast. Those 

 areas are ones on which we expect to find sea- 

 bird colonies and where applications for log- 

 ging are pending. To enable us to advise the 

 Forest Service on the wildlife values of those 

 sites, we began field work in the summer of 

 1975. 



The Federal Government, in comparison to 

 what it has done on the east coast and in the 

 north of Canada, has been negligent in its sup- 

 port of seabird conservation on the west 

 coast. By far the most seabird research by a 

 government agency in British Columbia has 

 been accomplished by the staff at the Provin- 

 cial Museum in Victoria. In the past, begin- 

 ning in the 1940's, museum personnel (mainly 

 C. J. Guiguet) explored and inventoried sea- 

 bird colonies along the British Columbia 

 coast. Most work then was exploratory, and 

 little quantitative information was gathered. 



More recently, precise counts have been ob- 

 tained of seabirds nesting in the Strait of 

 Georgia, Juan de Fuca Strait, the central west 

 coast of Vancouver Island, the northern main- 

 land coast, and the east coast of the Queen 

 Charlotte Islands. That information, along 

 with quantitative data gathered in the sum- 

 mer of 1975, will be used to update the "Cata- 

 logue of British Columbia Seabird Colonies" 

 published in 1961 by the museum. 



The museum has a number of programs 

 under way. 



A cooperative survey with Washington 

 State of colonies of the double-crested cor- 

 morant (Phalacrocorax auritus) in the Pacific 

 Northwest. To limit disturbance, that survey 

 is to be conducted at 5-year intervals begin- 

 ning in the summer of 1975. 



A survey of all islands, whether or not 

 they are supporting seabirds, in the Strait of 

 Georgia and Juan de Fuca Strait in 1980, to 

 detect changes in populations after 1974. 



Monitoring changes in seabird populations 

 along the west coast of Vancouver Island, 

 gathering data for all islands there. Perma- 

 nent quadrats will be established on ecologi- 

 cal reserves in the area to help detect such 

 changes. As a result of such quadrats having 

 been set up in 1967 on Cleland Island and 

 being re-examined in 1974, we can document a 

 significant decrease in Leach's storm-petrel 

 (Oceanodroma leucorhoa) and a corresponding 

 increase in rhinoceros auklet (Cerorhinca 

 monocerata). 



Mapping vegetation substrate as it relates 

 to seabird populations on selected islands in 

 the Province. 



Investigating differences in eggshell thick- 

 ness between eggs within clutches of glau- 

 cous-winged gulls (Lams glaucescens) near 

 Victoria. 



A saturation banding program for cor- 

 morants (Phalacrocorax penicillatus, P. pela- 

 gicus, and P. auritus) on south-coast colonies. 



Continued banding of select colonies of 

 glaucous-winged gulls which began in the 

 1960's. Life tables, survivorship curves, and 

 dispersal patterns should result. 



The museum also acts as a repository for in- 

 formation on seabirds in British Columbia 

 and maintains files on the history of seabird 

 islands as well as references to literature pub- 

 lished on all seabirds in the Province. The ref- 



