Distribution and abundance of seabirds in Monterey Bay, California

• Main Author: John West Mason
• Other Authors: James T. Harvey, Gregor M. Cailliet, David G. Ainley
• Format: Master Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: California State University, Fresno 1997
• Subjects: Uria aalge; uria
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12680/fq9782954

Fixed and random strip transects were conducted in Monterey Bay, California from 1992 to 1994 to determine the distribution and abundance of seabirds. Data were compared to similar data collected from 1981 to 1987 to determine temporal changes in abundance of seabirds. A total of 506,869 seabirds representing 57 species were observed. Sooty Shearwaters (Puffinus griseus).Common Murres (Uria aalge), and Western Grebes (Aechmophorus occidentalis) were the most abundant seabirds observed. Surveys of dead birds occurring on Monterey Bay beaches (beachcast birds) were conducted from April 1992 to April 1993. Common Murres, Cassin's Auklets (Ptvchoramphus aleuticus), and Sooty Shearwaters were the most abundant seabirds observed on beaches. Regressions of at-sea densities against beachcast densities for the eight most abundant beachcast species were significant for Brandt's Cormorant (Phalacrocorax penicillatus) only indicating the use of beachcast data as an index of at-sea abundance may not be accurate.