The Silent Disappearance of Marine Birds
Most citizens and school children in Whatcom County can tell you that Orca whales are endangered. Ask them about marine bird declines and you are likely to get a blank stare. While well over 100 bird species depend on our marine waters for habitat and food, recent work has shown that almost 20 percent of these species have declined significantly enough to warrant listing as threatened or endangered or are candidates for listing in Washington or British Columbia. “At first I couldn’t understand why people were not up in arms,” says Joe Gaydos, Regional Director of the SeaDoc Society and co-author of the recent study. “Then I realized that when you talked with people who have lived on the water for years, they recognized the loss of birds, but in general we were not doing enough to educate the public about these dramatic marine bird declines.” Marine birds feed high on the food web and are good indicators of the health of our marine ecosystem.
On Tuesday, April 22nd, Joe Gaydos, Regional Director of the SeaDoc Society, spoke about declines in sea birds and sea ducks, two groups of marine birds found in Whatcom County. About 60 people attended this presentation, which was hosted by the North Cascades Audubon Chapter.
The SeaDoc Society is a science-based marine conservation program that funds and conducts marine conservation science. For more information see www.seadocsociety.org
To read a manuscript detailing marine birds in decline and other regional species of concern see, Species of Concern within the Georgia Basin Puget Sound Marine Ecosystem: changes from 2002 to 2006.
