This study proposes to conduct scientific research and educational outreach to native peoples and residents of Bering Island, Commander Islands, Russia. The PI will travel there in summer 1997 for several closely related activities, including preservation of existing exhibits and development of a new exhibits focused on the extinct, formerly endemic species, Steller's Sea Cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) and Spectacled Cormorant (Phalacrocorax perspicillatus). These exhibits will serve as a centerpiece of a public education program designed to inform local inhabitants about the ecology and natural history of their island. The PI also plans to excavate sites where bones of the Sea Cow and Spectacled Cormorant are found, document for the first time the locations and stratigraphy of the sites, and recover osteological material of both species which are extremely rare in collections. The sites on the Commander Islands are particularly valuable to science for several reasons: access has been extremely limited and the sites are nearly intact, the extinctions are historically documented by eyewitness accounts and more information on the biology of these species will be valuable in understanding how sensitive island species are to impacts. The PI will take advantage of a unique opportunity to visit these formerly closed islands, and because these opportunities are time sensitive, the PI have chosen to submit a proposal of limited scope under the guidelines of the Small Grants for Exploratory Research (SGER) program.
