Tuesday March 26 at Seattle’s Swedish Club Reception at 6 pm with presentation at 7 pm Reception at 6 pm with talk at 7 pm The Cooper Island Black Guillemot colony was first recognized as a monitor of a warming climate in 2002, the 23rd year of the study. Decreasing sea ice in a rapidly melting Arctic...
Category: 2018 Field Season
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44th Cooper Island field season comes to an end
End of season field report by George Divoky. For the past four decades, my field seasons on Cooper Island studying Black Guillemots have always begun with high spirits and a feeling of optimism. Experiencing the 24 hours of daylight in early June while documenting the return of individual birds to the island and their nest...
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The first chick of 2018 has fledged from Cooper Island!
In a breeding season and field season that has been a tough one for both the Black Guillemots on Cooper Island and the investigators studying them, today was a day of celebration as morning nest checks revealed that the oldest nestling on the island had departed for the sea during the night. The first fledge...
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Uncertain Future for Nestlings: Sea ice retreat shifts prey out of foraging range
George’s latest field report describes his daily nest checks as parents are feeding chicks to prepare them for fledging. Black Guillemots have their young remain in the nest for almost five weeks, being nearly adult weight and independent of the parents when fledging. Returning to the nest with a single fish in their bill is...
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Long-term Data Collection Serves Many: Cooper Island study aids graduate students studying climate change
Graduate student Drew Sauve recently returned from Cooper Island. He describes his collaboration with George in this guest post. The Black Guillemots on Cooper Island are one of many wild populations that are responding to climate change by changing when they lay their eggs. These Arctic seabirds want to lay their eggs as soon as...
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Hatched! So far, so good for the 2018 chicks on Cooper Island
August 11, 2018: Field report Hatching is finally over with one very late egg hatching today after having been incubated for 34 days; 28 days is normal. The oldest nestling is 16 days old; the chick is gaining weight and doing well like all of the other 45 nestlings. While the main pack ice is...
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First chicks of the 2018 season
August is the rainy month of our field season, and the first day of the month was tough for us. During our morning nest checks, it wasn’t easy to keep our hands warm in a steady soaking rain, coupled with a windchill of 27 degrees Fahrenheit. The fingerless gloves I wear daily in the summer...
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2018 Census
In this week’s field report, George talks about specific birds as well as the overall report of his 2018 Black Guillemot census on Cooper Island. Nature, when observed or monitored for any extended period, typically provides a predictability that is reassuring in its consistency and sufficient surprises to keep one engaged. For over four decades,...
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Arctic Worries: Climate change impacts communities and wildlife in the Arctic
Science writer Jenny Woodman of Proteus writes about Cooper Island research and the current field season. George Divoky frets–with good reason. In 2016, CNN Correspondent John D. Sutter called him the man who is watching the world melt. The description is as distressing as it is apt. George sends us regular dispatches from a small field camp...
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Seabirds and Sea Ice
Over most of its range the Black Guillemot is a nearshore seabird, occupying coastal waters during both the breeding and nonbreeding seasons, as do other members of the genus Cepphus. Pelagic or open ocean waters can offer abundant prey resources, but these options are often distant, patchy and unpredictable. The nearshore typically offers seabirds a smaller but...