I'll Fly Away: Disturbance of Kittlitz's and Marbled Murrelets by Ship-based Tourism in Glacier Bay

June 27, 2017 Posted by: Scott Gende

Kittlitz's murrelet holding fish
A Kittlitz's murrelet carrying a fish flushes from the water in response to an approaching vessel.  Photo:  Scott Gende, NPS.   

A recent study led by Tim Marcella at Oregon State University found that both Kittlitz's murrelets and marbled murrelets commonly dive or fly away in response to approaching cruise ships even when approach distances are up to 1000 meters away. 

You can read the full article at the following link.

Marcella TK, Gende SM, Roby DD, Allignol A (2017) Disturbance of a rare seabird by ship-based tourism in a marine protected area. PLoS ONE 12(5): e0176176. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0176176
 

Last updated: June 27, 2017

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