On Saturday, a small group of kayakers set off at Strawberry Point in Yakutat for the grassy, strewn with logs area of sand referred to by the name of Blacksand Spit. The majority are birders and the majority of them were coming from different parts of the country or even the state to observe the rare Aleutian Tern the seabird species that is famous for its extensive travels and the possibility of declining in the past few decades.
The tourists were visiting town to celebrate The Yakutat Tern Festival, which celebrates the Aleutian Tern as well as its more famous and more plentiful cousin known as The Arctic tern. Blacksand Spit is the largest and southernmost well-known nesting colony of Aleutian terns. The group walked across the spit in a single line to ensure that nests are not disturbed and to keep their binoculars in the midst of hundreds upon hundreds rowed across on the Gulf of Alaska.
The Aleutian tern is currently being studied in a lengthy population study conducted through the Pacific Seabird Group‘s Aleutian Tern Technical Committee. A few reports and a lack of evidence suggest that this tern’s number has declined significantly in the past few years, and there isn’t enough information to know whether they are protected or not.
Susan Oehlers, Yakutat’s sole wildlife biologist with the National Forest Service, is responsible for the monitoring of the Aleutian tern population in Blacksand Spit and she co-chairs the technical committee that is responsible for the study.
“I consider it my obligation to live here as the local wildlife biologist, I must take every step I can to understand the animals and to try to become a responsible steward of the environment,” she added.
Her group created the state-wide survey and monitoring plan which was implemented in the year 2000.
“What we worked towards was a more consistent, better methods for assessing colonies and ensuring that everyone who is taking turns is conducting it the same method,” she said.
Oehlers presented an Aleutian information on terns at the festival, which began in 2017 to create an economic boost for the town of around 500 people, and also to create awareness of terns.
The festival and the study coincide with the nesting season of the terns. The peak hatch occurs typically in July, especially in the early part of the month.
Anne Schaefer of Prince William Sound Science Center manages the research of Prince William Sound Science Center coordinates the study for Pacific Seabird Group.
“There’s something happening in these terns,” Schaefer said. “But the thing we don’t know is whether the numbers actually decreasing? Do we really know the location of their colonies? Have they moved recently?”
Her team conducts aerial surveys mostly along the coast. The team will examine the area that extends from Cordova through Gustavus.
It’s difficult to discern the distinction from Arctic and Aleutian terns from afar and therefore they record nesting colonies, and return by foot to make the sure Aleutian terns are there and make an count. Field work is just beginning and they’ve already been able to log more than a dozen colonies.
Seabirds depend on the marine environment, which is why Schaefer is hoping to gain an understanding of what’s happening to the marine ecosystem through the research.
“There’s plenty of possibilities for what’s happening however there’s not been any identified problem,” she said. “I believe that we’re trying to figure out why is it a decline?”
This article was originally published in Alaska Beacon and is republished here with permission.
