Wildlife

Mass Starvation Occuring in Pacific Seabirds

Thousands of dead and dying seabirds have been washing up on beaches from California to Alaska, apparently dying of starvation.

Wildlife researchers believe a potent El Niño in combination with climate change could be why the common murres’ typical food supply has disappeared.

The species typically spends the winter months offshore. But the birds have recently been gathering along the coast and even showing up as far inland as Fairbanks.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service scientists say the murres have also been foraging in unfrozen sections of rivers and lakes, which is very odd behaviour for the seabirds.

Unusually warm waters along the Pacific coast of North America have in recent months been responsible for shifts in wildlife that have also left California seals starving and brought in exotic species typically seen much farther south.

Dead murres were scattered along the shore of Alaska's Prince William Sound during early January.

Manatees Are Making a Comeback

Manatees — the gentle, roly-poly marine mammals once mistaken by sailors for mythic mermaids — have been classified as endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) since 1967. But that classification may soon change, and for the best possible reason: Manatees have been making a comeback.

Citing reduced threats and "significant improvements" in both manatee population numbers and their habitat conditions, the USFWS issued a statement on Jan. 7 announcing its proposal to change the West Indian manatee's status from "endangered" to "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

"Their numbers are climbing, and the threats to the species' survival are being reduced," Michael Bean, principal deputy assistant secretary for fish and wildlife and parks at the Department of the Interior, said in the statement. Working together, a number of agencies, including the USFWS and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, established more than 50 protected areas for manatees — an effort that played an important part in helping the species recover.

The West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus) includes two subspecies: the Florida manatee (T.m. latirostris) and the Antillean manatee (T.m. manatus). In 1967, when manatees were first assigned an endangered status, their Florida populations numbered in the hundreds. Manatee populations worldwide are currently estimated to be around 13,000, and more than 6,300 of those are found in Florida. That represents a 500-percent increase in their numbers since 1991, when aerial surveys of Florida waters counted 1,267 individuals, according to the USFWS's website.

Although the manatee's future looks brighter than it has for decades, the USFWS noted that the status change shouldn't be taken as a sign that conservation work for the species is over. Manatees will continue to enjoy the protection of government agencies and legislation like the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and efforts will continue to further rebuild "sea cow" populations, manage threats and support their role as a "sentinel species," which serve as early warning indicators of environmental disturbances.