Gridded Seabird Density Estimates in Lower Cook Inlet, Alaska

This data set provides monthly (March-October) gridded density estimates for seabirds in lower Cook Inlet, Alaska. Gridded density estimates were produced by applying spatiotemporal modeling of at-sea survey data collected between 1975 and 2021 of seabird at-sea surveys available in the North Pacific Pelagic Seabird Database (NPPSD; Drew and Piatt 2015). We modeled joint dynamic species distributions of dark shearwaters (Ardenna spp., including A. grisea and A. tenuirostris), black-legged kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla), common murre (Uria aalge), pigeon guillemot (Cepphus columba), Kittlitz's murrelet (Brachyramphus brevirostris), marbled murrelet (B. marmoratus), horned puffin (Fratercula corniculata), and tufted puffin (F. cirrhata). Together these species compose 77% of all birds counted on surveys in lower Cook Inlet.