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DDTs and PCBs dumped in the ocean decades ago at
White Point, near Los Angeles continue to contaminate natural resources in the
Southern California Bight. The Montrose Settlements Restoration Program is
taking action to restore those resources.
Learn more about the Montrose site,
the southern California bight and nearby Channel Islands.
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Santa Barbara Island- A Safe Haven for Seabirds
In December, 2008 volunteers and staff from the Montrose Settlements Restoration
Program journeyed to Santa Barbara Island for a mass planting of native shrubs.
After a long day of intense labor over 1,000 native plants were placed in the
ground that will provide suitable nesting habitat for Xantus's Murrelets and
Cassin's Auklets. These are two seabirds that originally nested in large
numbers on Santa Barbara Island until the non-native ice plant took over parts
of the island reducing the amount of suitable nesting habitat. This short film
shows the challenges of working in a unique environment and the intrigue of
this tiny island off of California's coast.
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If you cannot view the video,
click here to install the latest Adobe Flash Player
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Cassin's Auklets Returning to Santa Barbara Island
This year scientists are doubling efforts to perform surveys of Cassin's
Auklets on Santa Barbara Island (SBI). As a result they are discovering that
more seabirds than previously seen in the last few years are using historical
nest sites on the islands. There are a number of reasons why nesting on this
island has declined over the years and one of them was a feral cat population
that is no longer present. MSRP has been restoring some known historical
nesting sites on SBI since 2006. The restoration efforts involve removing
invasive plants and planting native ones that provide better habitat for
nesting Cassin's Auklets. Scientists are also using sound vocalization
techniques which are recordings of Cassin's Auklets that are placed near the
restored nest areas to attract new individuals. Seabirds have not returned to
these restored sites yet but scientists did capture a few Cassin's Auklets
flying within ear shot of the vocalizations during monitoring surveys this
Spring.
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 Brood
patch of a Cassin's Auklet.
 A team of scientists using a spotlight to stun a seabird and then catching it with a net.
During
a recent seabird monitoring research trip at Santa Barbara Island a team of
scientists conducted at-sea night captures of seabirds to band and document
them near Landing Cove. Scientists capture the seabirds from a small boat by
shining a spotlight to stun them and then get close enough to capture the
stunned seabirds with a net. The seabirds that are captured get shuttled back
to the NOAA vessel, RV Shearwater, where they were banded. Birds were also
examined for brood patches, which are the bare vascularized areas on the belly
of the birds that they use to keep their eggs warm. Many of the birds captured
had brood patches indicating they were breeding adults.
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