Продолжение обследования колоний морских птиц Тауйской губы (Охотское море)

Abstract

Detailed surveys were performed with accurate fixation of the seabird's colonies locations on never researched sections of the coast next to the city of Magadan. The population was counted, the changes in the condition of the largest seabird colonies near the city, subjected to maximum anthropogenic pressure, were analyzed. The colonies under research included those on the Three Brothers Islands, on Isle Monakh (Kekurny), on Cape Ostrovnoy, and on island bars in the Ola and Arman lagoons. The total number of breeding seabirds, according to the latest counts in this area, including the abovementioned islands and lagoons, amounted to 88.7 thousand individuals. The first, in the history of observations, decrease in the number of seabirds in the Three Brothers colonies from 33.6 thousand to 28.9 thousand individuals in 5 years might be associated with the closure of the urban untreated sewage discharge into Gertner Bay. Monospecies colonies of the Slaty-backed Gull on the island bars in both lagoons, despite the strong anthropogenic pressure and the dynamic change in the islands contours, are still growing steadily and rapidly. In the Ola Lagoon, the number of nesting gulls has increased from 14.2 thousand to 37.6 thousand individuals over the past 9 years; in the Arman Lagoon, from 1.4 thousand to 4.2 thousand individuals within 5 years; their further growth can be predicted. At the present, the Slaty-backed Gull colonies in the Ola Lagoon are the largest in Tauysk Bay.