Members of scientific expedition “Arctic 2008” discovered a large colony of rare bird species – ivory gull (Pagophila eburnea) – on the Geiberg Islands, a grooup of small islands, located in the Kara sea.
The colony was spotted in the Vilkitski Strait between Severnaya Zemlya archipelago and Taimyr Peninsula by the crew of “Akademik Fedorov”, currently heading for the Arctic to open new drifting research station “North Pole 36”.
Ivory gull is a rare and poorly studied bird species, dwelling only on the Arctic islands. The gull is listed among world endangered species with only 11 thousand bird pairs.
Russia shelters about 85% of world population of ivory gulls. Gull habitats allow estimating ecological situation in Arctic marine ecosystems.
Source: Science & Life