Natural history
The northern fulmar, a member of the tube-nose family, breeds in remote colonies in Alaska, the Canadian Arctic, and the boreal zone of the northeast Atlantic Ocean. Like their shearwater and albatross relatives, fulmars reach maturity at a late age, raise just one chick a year and live long lives. They are dependent on foraging for fish, microzooplankton, and squid at or near the sea’s surface.
Conservation
Northern Fulmars represent more than half of seabird bycatch in U.S. groundfish and halibut fisheries in the North Pacific. At our Santa Cruz Lab, Oikonos studies fulmar specimens collected on fishing vessels. We partner with UC Santa Cruz, SWFSC, and NOAA to investigate the genetic origins and demographic makeup of fulmars killed in bycatch, and to track the plastic pollution that fulmars mistake for food on the sea surface. To disseminate our findings and support seabird education efforts in the Alaska region, we partnered with Auk Ecological Consulting and the Seabird Youth Network.
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