Coastal Water Temperature Tables
The recent (near real-time) water temperatures are in degrees Fahrenheit (°F).
The recent (near real-time) water temperatures are in degrees Fahrenheit (°F).
The Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS®) is a partnership among federal, regional, academic and private sector parties that works to provide new tools and forecasts to improve safety, enhance the economy, and protect our environment.
A perennial question in ornithology is whether flight has evolved mostly to facilitate access to food or as an anti-predator strategy. However, flight is an expensive mode of locomotion and species using flight regularly are associated with an expensive lifestyle. Using heart rate (HR) data loggers implanted in 13 female common eiders (Somateria mollissima), our objective was to test the hypothesis that a high level of flight activity increases their energy budget.
We investigated how the annual variation in the abundance of wintering common eiders
Somateria mollissima was related to the abundance of benthos over 4 yr. The study was conducted at
2 sites, Tunø Knob and Ringebjerg Sand, Denmark, from 1994 to 1998. Benthos was sampled along
permanent transects in November, and common eiders counted and localized from observation
towers during the winter. The benthic community was dominated by the blue mussel Mytilus edulis,
Scoters and other waterbirds congregate in dramatic numbers to consume Pacific herring (Clupea pallasi) spawn each spring along most of the Pacific Coast. Spawning occurs later at progressively higher latitudes, and may thus provide critical staging areas for scoters acquiring reserves as they migrate north to breed.
This report summarizes information about the status of duck populations and wetland habitats during spring 2012, focusing on areas encompassed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife (USFWS) and Canadian Wildlife Services’ (CWS) Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey. We do not include information from surveys conducted by state or provincial agencies. In the traditional survey area, which includes strata 1–18, 20–50, and 75–77 (Figure 1), the total duck population estimate (excluding scoters [Melanitta spp.], eiders [Somateria spp.
Twelve species of North American sea ducks (Tribe Mergini) winter off the eastern coast of the United States and Canada. Yet, despite their seasonal proximity to urbanized areas in this region, there is limited information on patterns of wintering sea duck habitat use. It is difficult to gather information on sea ducks because of the relative inaccessibility of their offshore locations, their high degree of mobility, and their aggregated distributions.
The fifteen species of sea ducks (Tribe Mergini) are the most poorly understood group of waterfowl in North America. The most basic biological information is unknown for some species. Few species have reliable population indices or estimates of annual productivity, and much of our knowledge is based on a very few, localized studies. Also, current survey design is unable to accurately estimate sea duck harvest.
Quantifying population genetic heterogeneity within nonbreeding aggregations can inform our understanding
of patterns of site fidelity, migratory connectivity, and gene flow between breeding and nonbreeding areas.
However, characterizing mechanisms that contribute to heterogeneity, such as migration and dispersal, is required before site fidelity and migratory connectivity can be assessed accurately. We studied nonbreeding groups of Common
Mergansers (Mergus merganser) molting on Kodiak Island, Alaska, from 2005 to 2007, using banding data to assess
The Canadian Arctic contains much of Canada’s coastal and marine zones, and these areas support
tremendous numbers of marine birds. At the start of the 21st century, the Canadian marine zone is
the subject of much concern as a result of a variety of anthropogenic threats. The Canadian
Wildlife Service (CWS) is the federal agency responsible for the conservation of migratory bird
populations and their habitats in Canada. As part of its mandate, CWS has produced this report
identifying key marine habitat