The Davis Strait - DCE - Nationalt Center for Miljø og Energi

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The West Greenland Arctic tern population had at least until 2001 an unfavourable
conservation status and was decreasing due to excessive egg collecting.
This activity was banned in 2001. It was therefore listed as Near
Threatened (NT) on the national Greenland Red List, a listing which may be
outdated now (Boertmann 2007).
Black guillemot, Cepphus grylle
This auk is the most widespread of the breeding colonial seabirds in the assessment
area (Boertmann et al. 1996). There are colonies in most fjords, bays
and coasts, and their numbers range from a few pairs to several hundreds
(Fig. 4.7.1). The total breeding population within the assessment area is unknown,
but numbers at least several thousand pairs. During the breeding
time they primarily stay in coastal waters, but in winter they disperse over
the shelf and are often found in waters with drift ice (Mosbech & Johnson
1999).
Black guillemots are more or less migratory and birds from further north in
Greenland move to the assessment area for the winter. During an aerial survey
in 1999 a total of 12,000 black guillemots were estimated in the coastal
zone between the southern tip of Greenland and Disko Bay (Fig. 4.7.12)
(Merkel et al. 2002).
The black guillemot population in Greenland has a favourable conservation
status and is listed as Least Concern (LC) on the Greenland Red List
(Boertmann 2007).
Vulnerable concentrations occur mainly in the summer time near the breeding
colonies. However, due to the wide dispersion of the colonies black guillemot
sensitivity on a population level is relatively low.
Thick-billed murre, Uria lomvia
This auk is a relatively numerous breeder in the assessment area. However,
the breeding sites are few and very localised: One colony in Nuuk and three
in Maniitsoq (Fig. 4.7.1). The most recent surveys sum up to 15,100 indviduals
present in the breeding colonies within the assessment area (GINR & AU
unpubl. data).