Project Information

Title: APEX: Lower Cook Inlet Study 96163-M

Project Year and Number: 1996: 96163-M

Other Fiscal Years and Numbers for this Project: 2000: 00163-M, 1999: 99163-M, 1998: 98163-M, 1997: 97163-M

Principal Investigator (PI): John Piatt (US Geological Survey)

Managing Agency: USGS

Assisting Personnel: None

Research Location: KEN

Restoration Category: Research

Injured Resources Addressed: Bald Eagles, Black Oystercatchers, Common Loons, Common Murres, Cormorants, Harlequin Ducks, Kittlitz's Murrelets, Marbled Murrelets, Pacific Herring, Pigeon Guillemot

Abstract: Present day conditions in the Gulf of Alaska ecosystem, particularly with regard to forage fish, may not favor the recovery of seabirds lost to the Exxon Valdez oil spill. A key question is whether the density and quality of available forage fish are adequate to support seabird population growth. This long term study is designed to measure the foraging (functional) and population (numerical) responses of six seabird species to fluctuating forage fish densities at three colonies in Cook Inlet. This involves at sea surveys (hydroacoustics, trawling, seining) of forage fish while measuring aspects of seabird breeding biology and foraging behavior at adjacent colonies.


Proposal: Not Available

Reports:
Annual Report FY96: View (10,592 KB)
Final Report: See Project 00163-M

Publications from this Project: None Available