Seabirds and marine mammals in South and Southeast Greenland, June 2008. Technical Report No. 81

We conducted an extensive aerial survey in South and Southeast Greenland in the period 12 - 26 June, 2008. The main objective was to detect 
important breeding areas for the common eider, for which the prior 
knowledge in Southeast Greenland was very limited. A second priority 
was to identify breeding sites for harbour seals in the southern part of 
the survey area. This species has been severely reduced throughout West 
Greenland over the past century and are now only regularly reported 
near Kangerlussuaq/Sdr. Strømfjord and the southern tip of Greenland. 
As far as possible other species of marine mammals and birds were also 
recorded. 
We used a Partenavia P-68 Observer aircraft equipped with bubble windows and all observations were treated as total counts. The survey altitude was 250 feet. In general, we followed the shoreline of the outer 
coast and the fjords and made detours to cover “offshore” islands. En 
route we recorded new seabird colonies and controlled previously described colonies. The total survey effort was ~9,400 km. 
Seabird density in Southeast Greenland was highest in the area between 
Qulleq (61.4ºN) and Umiivik (64.3ºN) and along the northern part of 
Blosseville Kyst. These two areas plus the area around Tasiilaq were 
identified as having the highest species diversity. The most common 
breeders in Southeast Greenland were the common eider (18,530 indv.), 
Iceland gull (1,285 indv.), black guillemot (971 indv.) and glaucous gull 
(603 indv.), respectively. Northern fulmar, great cormorant, barnacle 
goose, great back-blacked gull, lesser back-blacked gull, black-legged 
kittiwake and Arctic tern were also breeding, but were sparsely distributed. Breeding birds of great northern diver, red-throated diver, mallard, 
long-tailed duck, red-breasted merganser and ivory gull were also observed, but our survey covered only a small proportion of suitable 
breeding habitats. Two species were recorded as pre-moulting in Southeast Greenland; the common eider and pink-footed goose. 
The status of 38 seabird colonies, among 47 colonies known to Southeast 
Greenland previously, was controlled at the survey and 51 new colonies 
(first-time records) were located (not including black guillemot). The detection of new colonies was especially high in the area between Qulleq 
(61.4ºN) and Umiivik (64.3ºN), with common eider and Iceland gull as 
the two most important species.

For the common eider the most important breeding area in Southeast 
Greenland was the area between Qulleq and Umiivik. Ten of 11 new 
colonies detected in Southeast Greenland in 2008 were found in this area. 
The northern part of Blosseville Kyst has previously been identified as an 
important breeding area and this was confirmed by our survey. One new 
colony was detected here in 2008. The two areas with the highest concentration of eider colonies also had the most extensive open water areas at 
the beginning of the survey period in mid June. In contrast to the typical 
situation in West Greenland, the common eider was frequently observed 
as a solitary breeder in many fjords and coastal areas of Southeast Greenland, especially the large fjords around Timmiarmiut (62.6ºN) and 
Saqqisikuik/Skjoldungen (63.3ºN). When combining estimates of colonial breeders and solitary breeders a minimum of ~1.600 pairs of eiders 
were breeding in Southeast Greenland in 2008. In addition to this, mixed 
eider flocks of males and females were frequently observed on the water 
throughout the survey area and some proportion of these were probably 
also breeding birds. Another proportion of the eiders were detected as 
male-dominated flocks and we speculate that these were post-breeding 
or non-breeding birds from Iceland. Guessing that half of the mixed eider flocks were breeding birds, we estimate that 1,600 – 3,200 pairs were 
breeding in Southeast Greenland in 2008.

In South Greenland, between Kap Farvel and Paamiut, the common eider was by far the most numerous species recorded (8,170 indv.). However, colonies previous recorded in this area were not confirmed in 2008. 
It is a possibility that eiders were scarce away from the colonies prior to 
our arrival (due to the noise), or perhaps the timing of the survey did not 
match the incubation period. Among other species in South Greenland, 
the endemic Greenland mallard subspecies conboscha was relatively 
common in South Greenland (23 obs., 52 indv.). This was also the case 
for black guillemot and the larger gull species, but these species were not 
consistently recorded. A few observations of Canada goose, murres/razorbills and white-tailed eagles were also made in South 
Greenland. 
Nine previously registered breeding sites of harbour seals in southern 
Greenland were controlled in the period 12-17 June. However, no harbour seals were seen on any of these locations. Attempts were made to 
revisit two other sites, but this was abandoned due to poor weather conditions. The absence of harbour seals around and east of Kap Farvel was 
unexpected and subsequent work in this area (August/September 2009) 
also confirmed that harbour seals do occur here. 
A remarkable observation of a juvenile bowhead whale was done in the 
southern part of Blosseville Kyst, and this indicates that the very small 
and critically endangered Spitsbergen stock of bowhead whales is reproducing. Several observations of narwhales along Blosseville Kyst confirmed that the northern part of Southeast Greenland is important as 
summer residence for narwhales in East Greenland.