ABUNDANCE AND DISTRIBUTION OF MARBLED AND KITTLITZS-MURRELETS IN SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST ALASKA

We used small boats to survey Marbled, Brachyramphus marmoratus, and K ittlitz's Murrelets, B. brevirostris (Brachyramphus murrelets) in Lowe r Cook Inlet, Prince William Sound, and Southeast Alaska. We estimated (+/-95% CI) that there were 58,227 +/- 16,058 (4.2 birds km(-2)) murr elets in Lower Cook Inlet in summer and 11,627 +/- 7,410 (3.1 birds km (-2)) murrelets in the eastern half during winter. We estimated a mean of 113,652 +/- 25,900 (12.7 birds km(-2)) murrelets in Prince William Sound in four summers and a mean of 24,979 +/- 11,710 (2.8 birds km(- 2)) murrelets in four winters. An estimated 687,061 +/- 201,162 (19.4 birds km(-2)) murrelets were in Southeast Alaska in summer 1994. The s ummer population of all three areas was estimated to be between 655,48 2 and 1,062,398 murrelets. Winter abundance for the eastern portion of Lower Cook Inlet and Prince William Sound ranged from 22,646 to 50,16 4. Brachyramphus murrelets were distributed in low densities throughou t each of the three study areas, although abundance was not uniform; t here were areas of high densities within each study area. The largest densities were found in Southeast Alaska.