Seasonal seabird density and richness of seabirds off Southern California from sampling aboard California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) cruises, 1987 - 2006.

The observational data have been collected as part of long-term fisheries oceanography and seabird monitoring programs designed to inform management of California Current Ecosystem living marine resources. Information collected on seabird distribution and abundance at sea off southern California has been obtained since May 1987 as part of the California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigation (CalCOFI; http://www.calcofi.net). This program, initiated by R.R. Veit and J.A. McGowan, with funding from the National Science Foundation, has resulted in density (no. birds/km2) estimates of ~60 species of seabirds over the period 1987-present (Veit et al. 1996, 1997, Hyrenbach and Veit 2003, Yen et al. 2006).