Seabird Die-Offs

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When a massive seabird die-off coincided with an extreme marine heatwave, we knew the ocean ecosystem had dramatically changed. We found every level of the food web was altered.

Seabird carcasses are documented and fresh samples are sent for analysis.

Seabird Die-offs 2015-2020

Wreck is the term used for a massive bird die-off; it seems appropriate.

Although bird die-offs are not uncommon, in fact, El Niño years are often associated with seabird mortality events, Alaska has been experiencing seabired die-offs that are extreme. This year, 2020, is the sixth year in a row that we have experienced seabird die-offs.

Seabirds are good indicators of ocean ecosystem health. Recent mortality events are concerning in that they may be pointing to significant changes in marine ecosystems. Our northern oceans have been experiencing record-breaking, above-average sea surface temperatures. Seabirds eat cold water fish and zooplankton, which are both reliant on cold water. If the cold-water fishes have relocated because the ocean is too warm, or less zooplankton are produced in the warmer water, then the seabirds have a harder time finding enough food. In addition, cold water fish are fattier and provide more calories and nutrients for the birds, so even if they can find warm-water fish to eat, they may still have trouble meeting their calorie needs.

Most of the dead birds appear to have died of starvation. Murres, for example, have a high metabolic rate and consume 10-30% of their total body weight every day. Changes to their food supply can impact basic functions such as flying, feather molt and weatherproofing, and thermal regulation. Seabird die-offs also impact the entire population because of the reduction in breeding adults and the low productivity rate (success of eggs becoming chicks and becoming adults). Some species have experienced reproductive failure because the females are not in good enough body condition to produce eggs.

These back to back die-offs started with a massive event in the fall of 2015-spring of 2016 in the Gulf of Alaska. Since then we have seen die-off events, each year, across Alaska's coastlines. The events this year were smaller than those in previous years. They are still concerning given that they were widespread and affected several species in the Bering Strait.

2020 Die-off

Seabird die-off events were smaller than in previous years, but they remain a concern for subsistence communities that rely on marine resources.

Horned Puffin carcasses on a beach near Nome, Alaska.

Courtesy of Sara Germain, Alaska Department of Fish and Game

In May 2020, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) began receiving reports of dead and dying seabirds from the Bering Strait Region, with small die-off events continuing through September. The majority of species were puffins and murres, but also included shearwaters, kittiwakes and auklets. Birds examined from St. Lawrence Island were emaciated, however, the cause of death was also associated with a non-petroleum oil (vegetable, fish, or cooking oil) which was in the bird’s esophagus and lungs and on their feathers. To date, 320 seabird carcasses have been reported in 2020, which is lower than numbers reported in summers of 2017-2019. While the number of dead birds is comparatively low, it remains a concern for rural communities that rely on the marine ecosystem for subsistence.

Opportunistic counts of seabird carcass show the extent and magnitude of seabird die-off events in Alaska in 2020.

Map provided by Coastal Observation Seabird Survey Team (COASST) coasst.org

Historically, seabird die-offs are not uncommon in Alaska, but were not reported from the Bering Strait Region. Since 2017, these events have occurred every year in the northern Bering and southern Chukchi Seas. In addition to frequency, these die-offs are unusual due to the number and variety of dead birds, broad geographic area affected, and the duration of the series of events over a summer.

The USFWS is coordinating with federal, state, tribal governments, and community members to report observations and collect carcasses for examination by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Wildlife Health Center. Of the 15 carcasses submitted, 12 were examined and all were emaciated and tested negative for Avian Influenza. Tissues collected during examinations will be analyzed for harmful algal bloom toxins by the USGS Alaska Science Center. Results of those analyses will be shared when they are available.

Downloadable Fact Sheet for 2020

Seabird species affected in 2020

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  Horned Puffin

  Early sailors named them "sea parrot" and "clown of the sea"

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  Common Murre

  In winter Common Murres are found at sea, south of the ice edge, and on little islands in the Pacific.

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  Short-tailed Shearwater

  A trans-equatorial migrant known to make a 9,000 mile flight between Alaska and the Southern Hemisphere.

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  Northern Fulmar

  A truly pelagic species, the fulmar spends most of its life at sea and comes to land only to breed.

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  Crested Auklet

  Their distinctive tangerine odor and ornamental crest are attractive to their mates.

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  Black-legged Kittiwake

  They nest on narrow cliff ledges, often barely wide enough to fit a nest and birds.

Photo Credits: Horned Puffin, NPS/J. Pfeiffenberger; Common Murres, USGS/S. Schoen; Short-tailed Shearwater, B. Alps; Northern Fulmars, USFWS/M. Romano; Crested Auklets USGS/G. Drew; Black-legged Kittiwake, USGS/S. Schoen.

2019 Seabird Die-off

For five years running now, mass seabird mortality events continue in Alaska waters which continue to be warmer than normal.

Short-tailed Shearwaters (upper row of birds), an auklet and a murre found on a beach near Nome. Short-tailed Shearwaters journey to the North Pacific Ocean each summer following their breeding season in the Southern Pacific Ocean in Australia and Tasmania. They feed primarily on zooplankton.

Photo taken by Sara Germain

Beginning in May, reports of dead murres and puffins were received from the northern Bering and Chukchi seas. From late June well into early August, thousands of Short-tailed Shearwaters in the Bristol Bay region were reported dead. By mid August, the shearwater die-off had extended north into the Bering and Chukchi seas along the coasts of Alaska and Russia. Puffins, murres, and auklets are also being reported, but at much lower numbers than shearwaters.

Historically, seabird die-offs have occurred occasionally in Alaska; however, large die-off events have occurred each year since 2015. Consistently, bird carcasses examined during these recent die-offs were determined to have died due to starvation. Seabird carcasses from this die-off were collected from multiple locations and sent to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Wildlife Health Center for examination and testing. Initial results indicate starvation as the cause of death. Tissues sampled during examination will also be analyzed for harmful algal bloom toxins and we'll share those results as they become available.

Counts of seabird mortalities across Alaska from May - August 2019.

Map provided by Coastal Observation Seabird Survey Team (COASST) coasst.org

Map of sea surface temperature departure from normal in Alaska.

Graphic by @AlaskaWx ACCAP.

Ocean temperatures are connected to ocean health. Warm temperatures are associated with higher risk of harmful algal blooms, for example. Many fish have a relatively narrow range of temperatures in which they can live, so if water warms beyond what they can tolerate, they seek cooler waters elsewhere.

What can I do?

Report observations of sick or dead birds to regional partners:

North Slope: Taqulik Hepa [phone]
Northwest Arctic: Cyrus Harris [phone]
Bering Strait Region: Brandon Ahmasuk [phone] Gay Sheffield [phone]
Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta: Jennifer Hooper [phone]
Bristol Bay: Gayla Hoseth [phone]
Pribilof Islands: Lauren Divine (907) 257-891-3031
Unalaska: Melissa Good [phone]
Aleutians: Karen Pletnikoff [phone]

Or report by phone or email to the USFWS:1-866-527-3358 or [e-mail]

You can also participate in monitoring efforts on your local beaches: COASST provides training. Visit www.coasst.org.

Downloadable Fact Sheet for 2019

Partnerships

With help from Alaska Sea Grant, Local Environmental Observation (LEO) Network, Aleut Community of St. Paul Island, Kawerak, Alaska Migratory Bird Co-management Council (AMBCC), Alaska Department of Fish & Game, the Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COASST), the US Fish & Wildlife Service is tracking the number of birds involved, geographic area affected, and duration of the die-off event. To support these statewide monitoring efforts, NPS scientists will continue to track seabird mortality along and near park coasts for Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, Cape Krusenstern National Monument, Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Katmai National Park and Preserve, Kenai Fjords National Park, and Lake Clark National Park and Preserve.

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  Seabird Mortality Surveys on the Katmai coast

  NPS biologist Kelsey Griffin conducts seabird mortality surveys at Hallo Bay in Katmai National Park and Preserve.

  Duration:

  1 minute, 19 seconds

This map shows the location and magnitude of the dead seabirds found during this year's die-off event.

2018 Seabird Die-off

Beginning in May 2018, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the National Park Service (NPS) began receiving reports of dead and dying seabirds from the northern Bering and southern Chukchi seas, including in the vicinity of the Western Arctic National Parklands.

In late June, NPS investigators found 100 carcasses over a total of 4 km of beach surveyed, most of these being murres along the coast of Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, although other species were found there and in Cape Krusenstern National Monument.

Coastal communities have counted hundreds of dead seabirds that include: murres, fulmars, shearwaters, kittiwakes, auklets, and puffins. Additionally, fork-tailed storm petrels have been observed in large numbers along the coasts of Katmai and Kenai Fjords national parks (including Resurrection Bay), and in Prince William Sound. It is unusual to see this species so close to shore. While carcasses were not observed in these locations, there have been carcasses recorded in Kamishak Bay in lower Cook Inlet and McNeil River Sanctuary.

The USFWS and NPS are coordinating efforts with local communities. To date, all bird carcasses sent to the U.S. Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center for examination were determined to have died of starvation. There has been no evidence of disease, and tests are pending to determine if birds were exposed to harmful algal toxins.

Since spring, seabird die-offs have been recorded in the Pribilof Islands and the northern Gulf of Alaska. Although die-offs have occurred before, this is unusual due to the number of birds affected, the broad geographic area, and the duration of the event, which is ongoing.

The 2018 Alaska Seabird Report Card.

Provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge

The National Park Service works with many partners to document and understand seabird die-offs. Among our partners are: the Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team; the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Migratory Bird Management Program and the Alaska Maritime Refuge; the U.S. Geological Survey Alaska Science Center, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, and National Wildlife Health Center; the coastal communities of Nome, Unalakleet, Stebbins, Golovin, Kotzebue, and Shshmaref; Native villages of Gambell and Savoonga; Kawerak and Maniilaq Native Corporations; and Alaska Sea Grant provided transboundary reports from Chukotka, Russia.

A Horned Puffin and Short-tailed Shearwater documented as part of the seabird die-off, 2017.

NPS/Stacia Backensto

2017 Seabird Die-off

Late summer and early fall of 2017 a seabird die-off happened in the Bering and Chukchi seas of Alaska and Russia. Our scientists worked with other agencies to examine the scale and scope of the event. They counted hundreds of carcasses, documented the species, and sent samples to a lab for analysis. Preliminary data indicate the greatest number of birds impacted were Short-tailed Shearwaters and Northern Fulmars, but other species found include Black-legged Kittiwakes, murres, auklets, gulls, and Horned Puffins. Examined birds ultimately died of starvation or drowning, but underlying factors contributing to the die-off have yet to be determined. Early results from a walrus-stranding event in the Bering Strait that coincided with the seabird die-off indicate that walruses had been exposed to algal toxins, although it's unknown if this contributed to their deaths.

Tim Jones/Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COASST; www.coasst.org).

The distribution and density of the seabird die-off in the Chukchi and Bering seas includes the coast of Northwestern Alaska including Bering Land Bridge National Preserve and Cape Krusenstern National Monument, off the coast of Chukotka, Russia, and far out in the Aleutian chain.

Biologist Tony DeGange (retired USGS) examines murre carcasses on the beach of Hallo Bay in Katmai National Park and Preserve.

NPS/Stacia Backensto

The Common Murre Wreck of 2015-2016

Alaska, and along the U.S. Pacific Coast, saw an unprecedented die-off event of Common Murres between 2015 and into the spring of 2016. Warmer ocean temperatures disrupted prey species distribution and hundreds of thousands of seabirds, mostly Common Murres, died of starvation.

This map shows the density and extent of the dead murres found in the 2015-2016 die-off.

Map created by the U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center.

In response to this year-long, wide-spread Common Murre die-off along the Pacific Coast and the northern Gulf of Alaska, we worked along with agency partners (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Geological Survey) to conduct a winter marine bird and mammal survey in Katmai National Park and Preserve in March 2016. We also surveyed 19 segments of beaches by foot (a combined total of ~12 linear miles) and two offshore islands, and found evidence of the die-off everywhere we looked. We counted over 2,000 seabird carcasses (1,988 murres, 16 Crested Auklets, 2 Least Auklets, 1 Marbled Murrelet, 1 Glaucous-winged Gull, 2 Black-legged Kittiwakes, 2 Cormorants, and 23 unidentified small alcids). Nearly all carcasses were estimated to be on the beach for over 1.5 months, heavily scavenged, and found further inland on the beaches.

Check out this video that shows the results from the expedition to Katmai National Park and Preserve.