……objective science for conservation…….

The Pacific WildLife Foundation is a non-profit coastal and marine research and education society  that inspires an appreciation for objective scientific research and conservation of the ocean. We conduct original research, develop novel education programs, and inspire an appreciation for conservation of the ocean. 

Black Oystercatcher Haematopus bachmani

Black Oystercatcher Conservation

The Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska provided evidence of spilled oil on nesting oystercatchers. About 50 oystercatchers were estimated to have been killed by the oil and 30% of pairs did not nest the year following the spill (Andres 1998). However, a decade later the oystercatcher population appeared to have recovered to historical numbers in the spill area of Prince William Sound.

Small islands and beaches are favourite places for beach walkers and kayakers to visit and they pose a potentially if they step on eggs and chicks or leave them unattended in the presence of predators such as crows and ravens. Oystercatchers are resilient to some human disturbance - a pair raised young from a nest on a spit in Sidney Spit Marine Park frequented by many beach walkers each day – but how much disturbance they will tolerate is unknown. On the South Farallon Islands, 20 pairs of oystercatchers were present 7 years after a century of human disturbance ceased (Ainley and Lewis 1974) and in Washington State oystercatchers began to nest on Destruction Island 7 years after automation of a lighthouse (Nysewander 1977).