Notes on Behavior and Abundance of the Black-Footed Albatrosses in the Pacific Waters off the Continental North American Shores

Yocom, Charles F.

doi:10.2307/4080712

Cited by 13 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Several studies have documented vessel-attendance by North Pacific albatrosses (Miller 1940, 1942, Yocom 1947, Thompson 1951, Wahl & Heinemann 1979). Yet, to my knowledge, this is the first attempt to correct biased albatross abundance estimates using information about the extent (e.g., incidence and duration) of vessel-attraction and ship-following.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Off southern California, 96% (24 of 25) of the tagged albatrosses were re-sighted, and half of the sightings occurred within less than 20 nautical miles (36 km) of the marking site (Miller 1940(Miller , 1942. Additional observations between San Francisco and Hawaii and off central California, revealed that BFALs followed vessels for up to 4-6 and 12 h respectively (Yocom 1947, Thompson 1951. The ship-following bouts of north Pacific albatrosses are similar in duration to those previously published for Southern Ocean species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Albatross response to survey vessels: implications for studies of the distribution, abundance, and prey consumption of seabird populations

Hyrenbach

2001

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The study of marine bird ecology at sea is complicated by the tendency of many species to follow and otherwise attend vessels. Vessel-attraction likely biases abundance estimates and blurs the correlation between seabird distributions and habitat features over scales of tens of kilometers. Moreover, ship-following behavior inhibits the statistical analysis of seabird distributions because samples too closely spaced in time and space are not independent. These biases have important implications when estimating the size of rare and endangered seabird populations and the prey consumption by abundant species. This paper illustrates how observations of seabird vessel-attendance can be used to mitigate the biases of vessel-attraction and ship-following behavior. I quantified the degree of albatross attraction to survey vessels off southern California, and estimated that standard 300 m strip transects overestimated their abundance by at least a factor of 3.57. Additionally, I modeled albatross ship-following behavior, and determined that 95% of recognizable black-footed (Phoebastria nigripes) and Laysan (P. immutabilis) albatrosses ceased to follow the survey vessel after 60 and 38 min respectively. Using these models, I estimated that standard survey methods overestimated black-footed albatross abundance by a factor of 1.17 due to their ship-following behavior. When the vessel-attraction and ship-following biases were combined, standard survey techniques overestimated albatross squid consumption off southern California by a factor of 4. Determining the degree of vessel-attraction and the temporal scale of ship-following behavior will help design and analyze seabird surveys. These improvements will enhance our ability to monitor the distribution, abundance, and prey consumption of seabird populations.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Albatross response to survey vessels: implications for studies of the distribution, abundance, and prey consumption of seabird populations

Hyrenbach

2001

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…comm.). The large concentrations of birds found by Yocom (1947) are well within the California Current, but the observed abundance was probably distorted by the fact that his ship spent several days in the same location, thus creating a strong attraction factor.…”

Section: Distribution In Relation To the Environmentmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…For example, the numbers of birds seen in single sightings in the northeastern Pacific are far in excess of similar counts for the northwestern Pacific. Examples of this are: 70 birds 40 miles off San Francisco Bay (McHugh, 1950); 125 birds some 1000 miles southwest of San Francisco, and 53 Black-foots 465 miles off Oregon (Yocom, 1947), 78 birds 40 miles off northern Washington (Sanger, 1970); and 100 Black-footed Albatrosses at Unimak Pass in the Aleutians (ca. 165°W, 54°N) (Arnold, 1948).…”

Section: Analysis Of Distribution General Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pelagic studies of seabirds in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean

King¹,

Gould²,

Sanger³

et al. 1974

Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO ZOOLOGY • NUMBER 158 SERIAL PUBLICATIONS OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION The emphasis upon publications as a means of diffusing knowledge was expressed by the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. In his formal plan for the Institution, Joseph Henry articulated a program that included the following statement: "It is proposed to publish a series of reports, giving an account of the new discoveries in science, and of the changes made from year to year in all branches of knowledge." This keynote of basic research has been adhered to over the years in the issuance of thousands of titles in serial publications under the Smithsonian imprint, commencing with Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge in 1848 and continuing with the following active series:

show abstract

“…Black-footed albatrosses have long been known to occupy waters off the west coast of North America. Documented observations from ships indicate that from late winter (February) to fall (November), black-footed albatrosses were the primary albatross species observed between San Francisco and Honolulu (Fisher, 1945;Yocom, 1947;Thompson, 1951). High densities of this species typically are observed offshore, over the cold waters of the California Current, as far south as Point Conception and the Channel Islands (Miller, 1936(Miller, , 1940.…”

Section: At Sea: Non-breeding Albatrossesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Status Assessment of Laysan and Black-Footed Albatrosses, North Pacific Ocean, 1923-2005

Arata¹,

Sievert²,

Naughton³

2009

Scientific Investigations Report

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

For more information on the USGS-the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment, visit http://www.usgs.gov or call 1-888-ASK-USGSFor an overview of USGS information products, including maps, imagery, and publications, visit http://www.usgs.gov/pubprodTo order this and other USGS information products, visit http://store.usgs.gov

show abstract

Notes on Behavior and Abundance of the Black-Footed Albatrosses in the Pacific Waters off the Continental North American Shores

Cited by 13 publications

References 0 publications

Albatross response to survey vessels: implications for studies of the distribution, abundance, and prey consumption of seabird populations

Albatross response to survey vessels: implications for studies of the distribution, abundance, and prey consumption of seabird populations

Pelagic studies of seabirds in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean

Status Assessment of Laysan and Black-Footed Albatrosses, North Pacific Ocean, 1923-2005

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About