STUDY AREAS

Location

The study areas where we capture King Eiders and study their breeding ecology are situated on the North Slope of Alaska, at approximately 70 degrees northern latitude. The Teshekpuk Lake study area is still a fairly pristine wilderness area, whereas the Kuparuk study site is located within an active oilfield in the vicinity of Prudhoe Bay. Both areas feature treeless tundra ecosystems with a large number of shallow ponds and lakes where King Eiders nest.

Both areas are several hundred kilometers north of the Arctic circle, and the sun does not set between mid-May and August. Ice break-up occurs generally in June, and many lakes are frozen until the end of June. The average temperature during the summer is 8 C.

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