Today we had a small number of participants come check out some seaduck stomach samples. Thanks to Amos Philemonoff and Anthony Kushin for gathering and keeping these samples for Camp throughout this past winter subsistence hunting season. We had nine samples to look at. Based on a partnership and presentation from Wildlife Biologist, Brian Uher-Koch of USGS Alaska Science Center during Seabird Camp 2021, we had expected to find signs of bivalves (mussels), snails, small fish, or even crustaceans (shrimp/amphipods/crabs). We were all surprised at the emptiness of the stomachs. Chauncey did find some unknown orange things that we hypothesized might be parasites. We kept some samples and sent some photos to Brian to check out when he gets back from his field season. Hopefully he can help us figure out what they are. Attached is the very informative presentation 2021 campers got to share in.
