John F. Piatt
G. Vernon Byrd
Donald E. Dragoo
Gary S. Drew
2003
<p>Although islands in the Aleutians are known to support some of the highest densities of seabirds in the world, their remoteness has limited systematic research on the at-sea distribution of seabirds near these colonies.<span> </span>Kasatochi, Koniuji, and Ulak islands, in the central Aleutian Islands, together comprise one of nine ecological sites monitored once every 5 years on an annual rotation since 1996 by the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge (AMNWR).<span> </span>To supplement annual colony monitoring and examine seabird distribution away from colony sites, the AMNWR personnel in conjunction with U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) researchers, conducted a pelagic survey of the waters around these 3 islands in 1996.</p><p>Previous research in this area has focused on the seabird colony sites located on Kasatochi, Koniuji, and Ulak islands.<span> </span>Although boat-based circumnavigations have been used to evaluate colony populations (Early et al. 1981; Bailey and Trapp 1986; Byrd and Williams 1994; Byrd 1995a, 1995b), wide ranging pelagic surveys to examine foraging patterns had not previously been conducted near the islands.<span> </span>The goal of this survey was to examine foraging patterns of the seabirds nesting in the study area and identify factors that may explain seabird distribution patterns.</p>
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U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Seabird, fisheries, marine mammal, and oceanographic investigations around Kasatochi, Koniuji, and Ulak Islands, August 1996 (SMMOCI 96-3)
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