"Feds Document Seabird Loss in North Pacific Waters"

"The number of seabirds, including gulls, puffins and auklets, has dropped significantly in the Gulf of Alaska and northeast Bering Sea, a possible consequence of warmer waters, according to a preliminary federal analysis of nearly 40 years of surveys.

U.S. Geological Survey experts found the seabird population density declined 2 percent annually from 1975 to 2012 in the northeast North Pacific, said John Piatt, research wildlife biologist at the USGS Alaska Science Center.

'Biologically speaking, that's a pretty major change,' he said."

Dan Joling reports for the Associated Press March 19, 2015.