Seabird Colony Survey Report 2011: Kenai Fjords National Park and Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge

In 2011, KEFJ staff in cooperation with AMNWR and University of Alaska Fairbanks began a three year intensive seabird study to establish monitoring protocols for breeding seabirds in KEFJ and adjacent areas of AMNWR. The goals of this study are to: - Document previously undetected seabird colonies by systematically surveying the coastline within KEFJ. - Determine the status (occupied or unoccupied) and species composition of all seabird colonies documented in surveys from 1976-2010. - Produce GIS maps of the locations of seabird colonies in KEFJ and adjacent AMNWR islands. - Develop statistically valid protocols for monitoring long term presence and abundance of colony nesting seabirds within KEFJ and adjacent AMNWR islands. This report presents a summary of data gathered in 2011 with preliminary comparisons to seabird surveys from previous years.