Marine Indicators

This month, students on the Pribilof Islands are learning about the use of Seabirds as Indicators of the Marine Environment.

How can seabirds be good indicators? 
Studies of marine ecosystems are expensive due to the high costs of boat work, whereas seabirds are relatively cheap and easy to study on land at their breeding colony. Seabirds rely on the ocean for food, and different measurements (such as diet, or breeding success) have been shown to be sensitive indicators of the health of marine ecosystems.
Click on these following links to learn more about seabirds as successful marine indicators
(1) Seabird Stomach Contents Show Increase In Plastic Marine Debris.
(2) Breeding Failure Of Seabirds Indicate Change In Wind And Current Patterns Related To Climate Change.
(3) Penguin Populations Decline As Temperatures Rise and Sea-Ice Extent Decreases
(4) Chinook (King) Salmon Abundance Is Correlated With Cassin Auklet Breeding Success (and therefore can be used for commercial fishery predictions)
(5) Least Auklet Chick Diet On The Pribilof Islands Shows Increase in Arctic-dwelling Zooplankton Due to Colder Waters in Recent Years.