As I type this, we're busy packing for our long trip to Tatoosh Island, home of 10 species of breeding seabirds and one of the largest seabird colonies off the coast of Washington. The murre population at Tatoosh has been steadily declining. In fact, the total number of murres nesting in Washington is only 10,000 to 15,000, which may be cause for alarm. Scientists are still trying to understand biodiversity and losing any links can ripple through an entire ecosystem. One of our long-term research goals is to determine what factors are responsible for the ongoing population decline and, perhaps, even try to redress the problem.
Murres are fish-eating birds about the size of small ducks.
Common murres are longtime residents of Tatoosh Island. However, murres belong to the auk family Alcidae, which all live in the northern hemisphere. Penguins, by contrast, are flightless and confined to the southern hemisphere. As a chick only takes about 21-25 days to fledge, we have plenty of work to do in a short amount of time. From previous field trips, we estimate the first egg will hatch about July 16, shortly after our arrival.