birding Alaska
Apr 9 2010

The Frozen Bering Sea

On March 6th I left Kodiak on the USCG icebreaker, Polar Sea.  We transited west to Unimak Pass and north to St. Lawrence Island as part of the Bering Sea BEST project, a partnership between the North Pacific Research Board and the National Science Foundation.  We rolled back into Kodiak on April 7th after 33 days at sea.  Here are a few photos from the trip…

Spectacled Eider Somateria fischeri, St. Lawrence Island Polynia, Bering Sea, 23 March 2010.

A flock of Spectacled Eiders from 1000 feet up.  The entire world’s population, about 370,000 birds, winters in the limited open water of the St. Lawrence Island polynia in the Bering Sea.

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