A new study involving University of Washington researchers examine the events leading to a mass die-off of an estimated 3,150 to 8,800 seabirds on the shores of St. Paul Island, an Alaskan volcanic island located in the Bering Sea.
UW Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COASST) researchers Timothy Jones, Hillary Burgess, Charlie Wright and Julia Parrish attribute the abnormally high number of deaths in part to climate change, with 79 percent of deaths belonging to Tufted puffins. Several years of significant rise in sea temperatures resulted in a shift in fish populations, which puffins depend on as a food source. A decrease in food supply combined with molt, the process birds go through to replace their feathers and hinders their ability to fly, led to the demise of the puffins.
The Seattle Times, BBC and Vice cover the study further.
Read the full study »