Scoter Satellite Telemetry

Surf Scoters Prince William Sound | Black Scoters Kodiak
White-winged Scoters ( Prince William Sound | Yukon Flats | Juneau )
Capture Techniques | Surgery | Satellite Transmitters

In the spring of 1998, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game Waterfowl Program began a series of projects using satellite telemetry to track the movements of scoters. Our initial studies were concentrated in Prince William Sound, Alaska (the site of the 1989 T/V Exxon Valdez oil spill) where we deployed satellite transmitters on surf scoters and white-winged scoters during early spring in 1998, 1999 and 2000. To broaden the geographic range of our study we deployed satellite transmitters on white-winged scoters near Juneau, Alaska during late winter in 2001, and on Yukon Flats in interior Alaska during June 2002. During March 2004 we deployed satellite transmitters on black scoters captured on Kodiak Island, Alaska.

Satellite telemetry enables us to remotely track the migration of sea ducks during their annual movements from wintering areas - to nesting locations - to molting sites - and then back to their wintering grounds. This information is useful to waterfowl managers because it identifies important habitats; provides a precise chronology of movements between areas (important for the timing of surveys); and identifies what relationships exist among scoter populations and the habitats they use.

Population trends for scoters are uncertain but appear to be declining in some regions, while remaining stable or increasing in others. Affiliations between breeding and wintering areas are unknown, and interpretation of existing population survey data is difficult without this information. Identifying the location of breeding grounds, migration routes, wintering areas, and the timing of migration is an essential first step if we are to identify potential causes of population declines such as the effects of habitat alterations, and sources of contaminant exposure.

View the links above to see maps of migration routes for scoters trapped at each location; how we trap sea ducks; the satellite transmitters we deploy; and the surgical technique developed to implant them.