Restoration monitoring of harlequin duck populations in Prince WIlliam Sound and Afognak Island, AK (1989-1993)

• Main Authors: Richard Gustin, Dave Crowley, Thomas Crowe
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: Gulf of Alaska Data Portal
• Subjects: Afognak Island; Alaska; EVOS; EVOSTC; Exxon Valdez; Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council; Harlequin ducks; Histrionicus histrionicus; oil spill; Kodiak; Prince William Sound; restoration; histrionicus
• Online Access: https://search.dataone.org/view/df35j.67.16

We monitored densities of molting harlequin ducks and broods in oil spill area of western Prince William Sound (WPWS) and in the non-oiled eastern area (EPWS) during 1989-1993. A survey of sea duck foods was consistent with the literature, showing diverse prey in harlequins and the importance of mussels to goldeneyes and scoters. The shoreline density indices of molting harlequin ducks in in WPWS was consistently lower than those in EPWS. These data indicate that the densities of molting harlequin ducks were greater in the unoiled portions of PWS, suggesting differential use because of oil effects or regional ecological differences. Differences in survey timing and coverage among years contributed an unknown margin of error in comparisons across years and regions. The lack of pre-spill baseline population data and habitat differences between WPWS and EPWS preclude distinguishing oil spill effects from other ecological or demographic variation.