Radio Script
2000

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Counting Chicks
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INTRO: Ever since the Alaska SeaLife Center—with its seabird, fish, and marine mammal exhibits—opened its doors to the public in 1998, wildlife officials have hoped for the day when animals would actually be born at the facility. As Doug Schneider reports in this week's Arctic Science Journeys Radio, that day came recently when seabirds at the center hatched healthy chicks.

Tufted puffin at the SeaLife Center, Seward, Alaska (select picture for larger version).

STORY: The seabird exhibit at the Alaska SeaLife Center has become a nursery, thanks to the hatching of two seabirds—the first since the center opened three years ago. Rob Westra is the center's bird keeper.

WESTRA: "We are very excited about it. It's an excellent thing to have happen. It shows that a lot of things have gone right for the birds here at the SeaLife Center."

On July 5th, a common murre became the first seabird hatched at the center, located in Seward, Alaska, about 130 miles east of Anchorage. Soon after hatching, the chick was being warmed beneath its mother's wing.

About a week later, a second seabird chick, this time a tufted puffin, was hatched successfully. Westra says he's not one to count his chicks before they hatch, but he says if all goes well, five more seabirds are expected to hatch in the coming days.

WESTRA: "I'm probably going to let the cat out of the bag, but we just checked the eggs this morning and two more puffin eggs had just started their pips—small holes where the chicks decided to poke through. So we're going to start watching more closely to see them come out of their eggs. So, we've had two hatched successfully and we're waiting on five more."

Although the gender of the chicks isn't known yet, Westra says they've put on plenty of weight in the days since they hatched.

WESTRA: "It's fascinating to watch, especially because we have this all on camera, to watch the birds do exactly like what you read in textbooks. They are doing everything they are supposed to do. The chick will come out and the parents will brood or hold it under its wing for a day or so. This allows the chick to absorb its yolk sac. We found that if we feed the chick too soon an assortment of health problems can arise. So the parents give it a good 12-24 hours before they even try to feed it. Then, like clockwork, they head out to the habitat to pick up some fish and carry it right back for their chick."

Although the chicks seem healthy, officials will wait a few weeks—until they are ready to fly—before naming them.

WESTRA: "There's a bit of superstition. We have a couple of researchers who have experience at Sea World who have told us that it's usually not best to name the chick or get your hopes up until it's about to fledge. That will happen anywhere from about 20 to 30 days. We're still pretty nervous about a lot of different things. There's so many things that can go wrong. So we'll just keep a careful watch on them and hope for the best."

Neither murres nor puffins are considered endangered. Both species live in large colonies throughout coastal Alaska. The seabirds at the SeaLife Center were originally collected from colonies in nearby Prince William Sound.

OUTRO: This is Arctic Science Journeys Radio, a production of the Alaska Sea Grant Program and the University of Alaska Fairbanks. I'm Doug Schneider.

For more information visit these web sites:

Alaska SeaLife Center

View seabirds in their natural habitat on Alaska's Gull Island

Tufted puffins

Common murre photo

Common and thick-billed murres photo

Thanks to the following individuals for help preparing this script:

Rob Westra, Bird Keeper
Alaska SeaLife Center
Seward, Alaska
Phone: 907-224-6321
Email: robw@alaskasealife.org

Michele Miller, Senior Aviculturist
Alaska SeaLife Center
Seward, Alaska
Phone: 907-224-6321
Email: michelem@alaskasealife.org