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Seabirds of Prince William Sound

Prince William Sound is the classic Alaskan wilderness, a vast landscape of rugged coastline, deep fjords, and scenic islands supporting a diversity of birds and wildlife. Bald eagles and peregrine falcons soar overhead, loons, sea otters, and seals ply the waters, and black bears and mountain goats clamber along shore. It is also the breeding site of thousands of seabirds, including black-legged kittiwakes, glaucous-winged gulls, arctic terns, and the rare Kittlitz's murrelet. With a growing commercial fishing and shipping industry in the region and pronounced evidence of local climate change, studying this spectacular ecosystem has never been more important. You… more

Seabirds of Prince William Sound

Prince William Sound is the classic Alaskan wilderness, a vast landscape of rugged coastline, deep fjords, and scenic islands supporting a diversity of birds and wildlife. Bald eagles and peregrine falcons soar overhead, loons, sea otters, and seals ply the waters, and black bears and mountain goats clamber along shore. It is also the breeding site of thousands of seabirds,… more

Trip at-a-glance

Price: From $2,549* per person
Lodging: camping
When: April-July
Number of days: 14
Group size: 6

This trip is offered by:

Earthwatch Institute

Call them at 800-776-0188 about this trip and mention you saw it at TravelDragon, or contact them.

Trip details

Because our project began in the 1970s, these kittiwakes were one of only a handful of populations in Prince William Sound that had been studied prior to the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. This made kittiwakes highly valuable to scientists attempting to assess the recovery of the ecosystem after the spill. Since we actually had some idea of how they were doing beforehand, we could collect data after the spill to compare to the earlier information. Kittiwakes became one of the four species researched during the post-spill APEX project.

The work we do is highly varied and exciting, particularly during the summer months. We work from a primitive field camp nestled between the milky blue waters of Shoup Bay and the 4,000 - 6,000-foot snowcapped mountains surrounding the bay. Our research is conducted primarily from 17-foot inflatable boats that we can drive all around the colony island. You will be guaranteed a true hands-on, up-close-and-personal research experience, and we could not accomplish the work we do without volunteer assistance!

As an Eons member, you'll get a free, 1 year membership to Earthwatch — a $35 value — when you sign up on any expedition. And members pay $100 less on their expedition contribution — so you save $135! Just put code EONS2007 in the comment field on the signup form, or, if you call, tell the Expedition Coordinator that you found us on Eons.

Earthwatch expedition-related costs may be tax-deductible in the US as volunteer expenses. Please check with your tax adviser.

*TRAVEL INFORMATION DISCLAIMER: Travel product and pricing information are the travel provider’s base estimates, published here as a convenience to TravelDragon users without verification by TravelDragon. Your actual price will vary depending upon length of trip, travel dates, number of traveling guests, transportation (e.g. airfare, rail passes, etc.), and optional service features such as room categories or individualized food requirements. This base price estimate may or may not include all necessary fees, taxes, government-imposed surcharges. Be sure to confirm availability, total price and trip details with the travel provider using the contact information provided here.

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