East Amatuli Island Remote Video Link Project. Restoration Project 99434. EXXON VALDEZ Oil Spill Restoration Project.

摘要

Two remotely operated video cameras were installed near common murre (Uria aalge) field observation posts at E. Amatuli Island on 22 May. Live images were transmitted to Homer by microwave via a repeater atop Mt. Bede, on the southwestern Kenai Peninsula. Between 23 June and 4 September Pratt Museum and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff worked in the museum with the cameras as public interpreters and data collectors. They helped teach nearly 15,000 visitors about seabirds, predator-prey relationships, habitat, and scientific research. Productivity data for a selected study plot was collected by camera at the museum and by observers in the field using binoculars and telescopes. Comparison of data sets revealed variations between data from camera and field observations. With camera observation fewer murres were counted, adult postures more frequently misidentified, eggs and chicks less frequently seen, and different hatch dates recorded. Calculated results for measures of productivity were similar between the two methods, however. Public interaction with interpreter/data collectors greatly enhanced education and outreach but may have been one factor responsible for variation between camera-derived and field-derived data. Electronic interference, problems of hardware/software design, and delayed field maintenance were among other factors influencing camera effectiveness.