Washington State
General Environment
For this report, we have distinguished two major geographical areas in Washington where breeding seabirds are found—the western coast of the Olympic Peninsula and the San Juan Islands, including the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
On the Olympic Peninsula, seabirds breed on the offshore rocks, islands, and precipitous cliffs from Copalis Beach to Cape Flattery (Fig. 4). The offshore rocks and islands throughout this area (except Tatoosh Island) are now included in the Washington Islands National Wildlife Refuge. Most of the larger rocks and islands have dense stands of salmonberry, salal, and grasses, and a few support stands of stunted conifers (Fig. 5); most are inaccessible to man. The adjacent coast is dominated by the Olympic rain forest where the mean annual precipitation is about 337.1 cm (U.S. Weather Bureau 1956, 1965a, 1965b).
Because the San Juan Islands lie northeast of the Olympic Peninsula and east of Vancouver Island (Fig. 6) they are in a rain shadow; however, because of highly variable topography and aspect, most islands have a diverse assemblage of plant communities (Franklin and Dyrness 1973). Exposed south-facing slopes are occupied by grassland vegetation and frequently by scattered trees, usually Pseudotsuga menziesii and Arbutus menziesii. Most of the seabird colonies are located on rather small exposed islands with short, grassy, shrubby vegetation. In general, these islands are not suitable for burrowing species.
| Bird species | Straits of Georgia and Juan de Fuca | Southwest coast of Vancouver Island | Northwest coast of Vancouver Island | West coast of Queen Charlotte Island | East coast of Queen Charlotte Island | Prince Rupert to Queen Charlotte Island | Total birds | Percent of total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fork-tailed storm-petrel | + | + | 1,050 | 97,100 | + | 98,160 | 31.3 | |
| Leach's storm-petrel | 10,000 | + | 1,800 | 180 | 750 | 12,730 | 4.1 | |
| Double-crested cormorant | 1,058 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,116 | >1.0 |
| Brandt's cormorant | 370 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 370 | >1.0 | |
| Pelagic cormorant | 2,174 | 336 | 3,350 | 1,456 | 496 | 12 | 9,998 | 3.2 |
| Glaucous-winged gull | 10,123 | 6,870 | 600 | 412 | 866 | 540 | 29,534 | 9.4 |
| Common murre | 16 | 3,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3,016 | 1.0 | |
| Pigeon guillemot | 1,029 | 204 | 250 | 358 | 1,458 | 1,650 | 5,978 | 1.9 |
| Ancient murrelet | 0 | 0 | 200 | 42,150 | 4 | 42,354 | 13.5 | |
| Cassin's auklet | + | 50,000 | + | 26,500 | 450 | 76,950 | 4.6 | |
| Rhinoceros auklet | 1,200 | + | 10,000 | 300 | 200 | 11,700 | 3.7 | |
| Tufted puffin | 1 | 154 | 20,000 | 190 | 0 | 42 | 20,388 | 6.5 |
| Total | 14,385 | 19,150 | 77,200 | 15,466 | 169,050 | 3,648 | 313,294 | 81.2 |
| Geographic location | Population estimate | Percent of total |
|---|---|---|
| Straits of Georgia and Juan de Fuca | 14,385 | 9.2 |
| Southwest Coast of Vancouver Island | 9,575 | 6.1 |
| Northwest Coast of Vancouver Island | 38,600 | 24.6 |
| West Coast of Queen Charlotte Island | 7,733 | 4.9 |
| East Coast of Queen Charlotte Island | 84,530 | 54.0 |
| Prince Rupert to Queen Charlotte Strait | 1,824 | 1.2 |
| Total | 156,647 | 100.0 |
Fig. 4. Map of the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State showing sites of major seabird breeding colonies: 1—Protection Island; 2—Carroll Island; 3—Destruction Island.