Yellow Pages
BELLINGHAM — Marine bird populations in northern Puget Sound have decreased by 26 percent since the late 1970s, a recent Western Washington University study indicates.
The four-year study sent students from Western’s Fairhaven College to about 150 sites between Tsawwassen, B.C., and Whidbey Island to take a comprehensive census of some 80 north Sound marine bird species — those that actually live in the water, not just the shores. Padilla Bay, Samish Bay and Green Point on northwestern Fidalgo Island were the three sites in Skagit County used to observe birds for the survey.
John Bower, a professor of field biology at Western, is now comparing those numbers with data collected between 1978 and 1979 when the construction of oil refineries in the region prompted the federal government to document the area’s marine species that could be harmed by an oil spill. Though Bower is still writing his final report, he said early results include “some shocking declines” in a number of key species.
Among those is the Common Murre, a long-billed black and white seabird, which the study indicates declined 93 percent since the 1970s census, and the Western Grebe, a long-necked black and white seabird, which declined 81 percent. Other birds that have declined include the brant, a coastal goose common on Padilla Bay, and the scoter, a sea duck that’s a popular catch for hunters.
“It was perfectly normal to go out to the bay and see several thousand Western grebes on the shores,” Bower said. But the recent study only counted a one-day average of 10 Western grebes on Padilla Bay and 436 on Bellingham Bay, Bower said. Now “they just aren’t around,” he said.
The study seems to confirm earlier results of ongoing marine bird counts that state Department of Fish and Wildlife has done since 1992. But while the Fish and Wildlife counts are being done via airplane and in the winter, Bower’s study had students count birds on the ground between September and May.
David Nysewander, a Fish and Wildlife project leader who assesses marine birds on Puget Sound, said he has known that marine bird populations have been declining. But he said a lack of funding has prevented him from doing much about it.
“We’re concerned,” Nysewander said. “But, unfortunately, we only have so much money.”
Most state wildlife funds go toward more commercial species like salmon, he said. But changes may be on the horizon: The August meeting of the state Fish and Wildlife Commission included discussion of limiting scoter hunting, Nysewander said.
Although Glen Alexander, education coordinator for the Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, has also suspected marine bird numbers have been falling, he said it helps to have research confirm it.
“You go to the same park every week and you see thousands of birds out there and then, all of the sudden, you go back and you don’t see as many,” Alexander said. “But you don’t know for sure the population is declining. Very careful scientific methods are required to answer that question.”
Alexander also said Bower’s research can help him better educate the public about the state of the local environment.
Now Bower and others have the task of figuring out why marine birds are on the decline. Bower said water pollution, eel grass destruction, global warming and habitat loss could all be factors. But he doesn’t have the research to back that up.
“To have the types of declines that we’re seeing (means) there are multiple things going on here,” Bower said.
Though it isn’t known exactly why northern Puget Sound is losing its marine birds, Bower said there are some things individuals can do to help. He recommended that governments restrict shoreline development, that neither people nor their dogs disturb birds when walking on beaches, and that the general public do whatever it can to limit pollution.
By protecting the region’s marine birds, Bower said the public can help protect the entire Puget Sound.
“If we have declines in the birds, it means the ecosystem that supports those birds is in trouble,” Bower said.
* Franny White can be reached at 360-416-2148 or
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