"Murre die-off and beach surveys: It looks like El Nino is affecting seabirds in the Gulf of Alaska, as murre die-offs are reported in Cook Inlet, Kodiak, east Aleutians, Seward, and other places (including the Bering Sea). In an effort to document this through the coming months, we are trying to get field biologists to do beach surveys whenever and wherever they can."-- John Piatt <john_piatt@usgs.gov>