The Research Vessel (R/V) Arlluk with a group on board, preparing for work. - Photo Credit: Orville Lind/USFWS

Wildlife Biologist Susan Savage counting seabirds. - Photo Credit: Orville Lind/USFWS

Ty Donnelly of the USGS diving in eelgrass bed at Big Lagoon. - Photo Credit: Neils Dau/USFWS

The Research Vessel (R/V) Arlluk had a very busy summer with our new captain, Orville Lind. A number of research projects were conducted while working cooperatively with faculty and staff researchers from the University of Alaska’s Museum of the North, the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, and the U.S. Geological Survey.

The vessel season began in May this year with a cruise from Kodiak to Chignik Bay, where a new berth awaited for our summer field season. The vessel supported a project with USFWS and National Park Service Law Enforcement in May, monitoring the bear hunting season on the Alaska Peninsula coast.

In July, Refuge staff and faculty from the UAF museum gathered for a cooperative project capturing and observing small mammals on Chiachi Island and Jacob Island. These islands, part of Alaska Maritime NWR, are close to Perryville. Wildlife Biologist Dominique Watts says voles and shrews were captured, and bears, mink, and fox were seen. Islands offer possibilities for identifying unique species. A thorough inventory of mammals present would take at least a few weeks. Also in July, Alaska Maritime NWR conducted seabird surveys on several islands.

In August, the vessel headed for Puale Bay to collect seabird data. Three 3 large murre colonies were surveyed, located at Puale Bay, Oil Creek, and Cape Unalishagvak. In late August and through mid-September, the vessel transited to Cold Bay and worked along the Alaska Peninsula coast and on offshore islands to conduct eelgrass surveys in support of Izembek NWR studies and in cooperation with U.S. Geological Survey eelgrass researchers.