the seabird ecological assessment network (seanet) a project of tufts university’s cummings school...
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The Seabird Ecological Assessment Network (SEANET)
A project of Tufts University’s Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine
North Grafton, Massachusetts
Oceans cover 70% of Earth’s surface and profoundly affect biological and physical processes
60% of world’s population lives on or near a coastNumber will increase to ~75% in next decade
Oceans are under increasing pressure!
The State of the World’s Oceans
One of most numerous and visible groups of wildlife in coastal marine environments worldwide
Spend most of their lives on the ocean
Specialized diets Populations and reproduction are closely linked to status of marine prey
Top predators Bioaccumulate toxins and contaminants acquired from prey
Seabirds are Sentinels of Ocean Health
Emerging infectious diseases Interactions with fisheries – bycatch, entanglement Harmful algal blooms Contaminants (e.g. heavy metals, pesticides) Plastics Sewage contamination Overfishing
Global Threats Facing Seabirds
Plastic debris
BycatchOil contamination
How do we detect changes in seabird populations?
Count live birdsCensus breeding colonies (breeding adults and offspring)Count birds at sea
Count dead birdsMortality data are critical for understanding the magnitude and causes
of population changeEasier to count carcasses than live birds; and, data are verifiable with
photographs (live bird data often difficult to verify)
SEANET: monitoring beached birds
SEANET is the only coordinated seabird mortality surveillance project on the Atlantic coast
SEANET is carried out by both scientists and conservation minded citizens. Through this program, you can participate in university science and marine conservation.
SEANET is citizen science
Over 100 volunteersBeaches covered: Maine to New
Jersey; Georgia and FloridaBeaches walked 1 or 2 times a
monthVolunteers do not need specialized
birding skills to participate:
Jerry Golub, volunteer in New Jersey
Data generated by SEANET Beached Bird Encounter Rate
# of carcasses found per km of beach per month
Beach “conditions” during surveye.g. Wind, Temperature, Precipitation
Live seabirds and shorebirdsThese data are optional
PART ONE: GETTING STARTEDI. Volunteer Supplies:SEANET provides: You provide:volunteer protocol digital cameradatasheets binocularsfoot key gloves measurements diagram rain gearwing ruler sun protectioncalipers pencil and clipboardcable ties (for marking carcasses)
SEANET Protocols
Beached Bird Field Guide
Not required, but very useful for beached bird identification in the fieldCan be purchased from Tufts for $31.50 (+ $4.50 shipping & handling)
Foot Key for ease of ID
Foot key is used to identify a bird to “foot family”
PART ONE: GETTING STARTEDII. Choosing a beach
Work with SEANET staff and Google Earth (a free download) to determine which beach to survey
Pick a beach that you can reliably access year-round
Beaches should be at least 1km in length
This form tells us about the types of factors specific to your beach that might influence the number of carcasses you find It should be completed during your first survey and then mailed to Tufts.
Description of Start and End points should be written in enough detail for anyone to understand; photos of your stop and end points are also requested
This form is an opportunity for you to tell us about your unique beach!
Beach Characteristics Form
Beach Characteristics Form
You may not have all the answers to the questions, but fill them out as thoroughly as you can
Surveys must be conducted either once or twice monthly YEAR-ROUND.If you cannot walk year-round, please team up with another person who can walk while you are away. Weekly surveys are ideal, but only if done consistently year-round
Make sure that surveys are evenly spaced over time (e.g. if once a month, make sure they are around the same time each month)
Do not report beached birds observed on “random” walks outside of your surveys (we cannot use these data)
Conduct surveys at low tide, or just after high tide as the tide is going out Consult your local newspaper for tide charts, or go to http://tidesonline.nos.noaa.gov
(this is in the SEANET protocol)
PART TWO: WALKING YOUR BEACHI. When to survey
PART TWO: WALKING YOUR BEACHII. Where to survey
• Conduct surveys on the same segment of beach each time
Data are reported as the # of carcasses per km of beach – therefore, the length of your beach must remain the same on each survey
*Do not submit a survey sheet if you were only able to walk part of your beach
• If your beach changes due to erosion or other physical processes, please contact your local SEANET Coordinator as soon as possible to update the Start and End points
PART TWO: WALKING YOUR BEACHII. Where to survey
Be sure to search both wrack line from the most recent high tide as well as the wrack from extreme high tides (farther inland)
Survey low and high on your beach - the wrack line on your beach is particularly important to search thoroughly –carcasses often found in wrack
Wrack line – the line of stranded debris, both natural (seaweed) and human-made (plastic bottles and bags) that forms at the water’s edge during high tides
Natural wrack
Unnatural wrack
What to look for when searching for dead birdsFresh carcasses will often look like lumps on the beach:
Older carcasses may be partially buried in sand or wrack
Be sure to look for wing tips and feathers in sand and wrack
Thick wrack can be searched using a walking stick
PLEASE REFER TO THE DATASHEET FOR THE FOLLOWING SLIDES
Remember to fill out your name, date of survey and beach number on each sheet (especially if you are going to submit the paper forms)
Provide the name(s) of all individuals participating in the survey Additional surveyors increase the likelihood of finding carcasses and must
be accounted for in data analyses
Record start time and duration of the survey (do not include time spent recreating)
PART THREE: RECORDING THE DATAI. Filling out the datasheets
Temperature (look up in local newspaper) Fog (yes or no) Sky (clear, partly cloudy, or overcast) Wind direction and speed (can also look up in local newspaper) Precipitation during the survey Storm during past 48 hours Ice/snow on beach (may obscure carcasses and lower likelihood of
encounters)Tide incoming our outgoing/high, low, or intermediate at time of survey
(helps us determine how likely you were to find recently deposited carcasses)
BEACH CONDITIONS DATA
Conditions during your survey that may influence the likelihood of finding carcasses:
Wrack LineNone, patchy, continuous
If continuous, narrow (<1m) or wide (>1m)
BEACH CONDITIONS DATA
I. None
II. Patchy
III. Continuous
Two lines of wrack here - one from most recent high tide,other (higher up) from extreme high tide
Beach raked? (usually done during summer, tourist season)
Recent beach stabilization e.g., beach nourishment (addition of sand or dredged materials)
BEACH CONDITIONS DATA
Oil on beach?May be balls, sludge, or an oily sheen
Should be able to detect smell of petroleumIF OIL, CONTACT National Response Center Hotline and SEANET* NRC contact info in protocol
BEACH CONDITIONS DATA
This is the ONLY optional section in the datasheetWe encourage, but do not require, live bird sightings Live bird numbers can tell us something about dead bird numbers
Record the total number of each species Conduct counts mainly on outbound leg of survey and keep a running tally - do
not recount birds on return leg unless you are confident they are different birds
Report confidence in your ID (Very, Somewhat, Not Very)
Data can be entered via SEANET or eBird (citizen science project of Cornell Lab of Ornithology); see Volunteer Protocol for instructions
LIVE BIRD COUNTS
What is a beached bird? Any carcass or partial carcass with measurable bill, wing, or leg (Parts of bones or piles of feathers do not count)
Live birds that are injured, ill, or in distress are included as “beached” birds
Live birds should NOT be touched – report bird on SEANET datasheet and contact local rehabilitator
Also, if sick marine mammal found,DO NOT TOUCH – report to local strandingnetwork
REPORTING BEACHED BIRDS
Sick swan found by SEANET volunteer in 2008
Record Common Name of bird; if you do not know species, record as much as you can (e.g. “unknown gull”)
Use foot key to help with ID – also see “severed wing guide” on SEANET blog
Describe Status of bird: Live (in the case of sick or debilitated birds), fresh dead, moderate decomposition, advanced decomp, mummified skeletal
REPORTING BEACHED BIRDS
Body Parts Found
Entangled? Yes/No
REPORTING BEACHED BIRDS
Evidence of scavengingScavengers: gulls, foxes, raccoonsGulls particularly common scavengers
Gull scavenging - often a hole withbreast meat eaten away
Oil
Oil is also detectable by its aroma
REPORTING BEACHED BIRDS
Sex Usually cannot be determined except in the case of sea ducks
(e.g. eiders) where males and females have different plumage
REPORTING BEACHED BIRDS
Subadult gull (note plumage)Plover chick – note down insteadof feathers
• Age Class • Adult, Subadult, Chick, Unknown
Banded? (Leg or wing)
REPORTING BEACHED BIRDS
Measurements:
Wing chord – (use ruler, cm)distance between wristbend and tip of longest primaryfeather; keep wing in bent position during measurement
Tarsus – (use calipers, mm)measure diagonally across bone from middle groove of ankle jointto top edge of the foot
Culmen – (use calipers, mm)Distance between tip of billAnd the point where bill meetsskin or feathers of forehead;always measured from top sideof bill
PHOTOGRAPH EVERY DEAD BIRD REQUIRED for independent verification of species ID
REPORTING BEACHED BIRDS
Photo Protocol:Brush off sand and position carcass so that the head is in profile and wings are in a “M” positionTake 2 photos: one ventral and one dorsal – be sure to be directly above carcass when taking photograph (avoid angled shots)Include ruler in photo for scaleInclude label in photo – beach ID, Date, Bird Species
Good example
Do not place label on top of carcass
Position head so that profile can be seen – not possible to see bill profilein this photo
Bird Disposition – Left at Site, Transferred for necropsy, Transferred for rehabilitation, Discarded
If Left at Site, MARK THE CARCASS so as not to recount it – EXTREMELY IMPORTANT – use cable ties provided
REPORTING BEACHED BIRDSWHAT TO DO WITH CARCASS AFTER RECORDED?
If carcass is not marked, it MUST be disposed ofDiscard inland of beach (far enough that it will not be brought back to the beach by an extreme high tide!) (or throw in trash can)
On wings, secure cable tie as close to bone as possible
On bill, slide tie through bothnostrilsOn tarsus, secure cable tie as
tightly as possible above foot
Safety considerations
• Do surveys in pairs when possible - that way, one person can hold field guide or record notes – and, be present in case of emergency
• Wear protective clothing – ALWAYS wear gloves to handle carcasses
• Do not rub your eyes, chew your pencil, etc while surveying
• If you have touched a carcass (even with gloves), wash your hands with soap and water, or use Purell
SUBMITTING DATAIMPORTANT: Datasheets must be filled out for every survey
regardless of presence/absence of beached bird
This allows us to calculate an average beached bird encounter rate for your beach, which is used to compare to other beaches in order to understand why some beaches accumulate lots of carcasses and others do not
Data and photos can be submitted: Via “snail” mail to Tufts staff (see protocol for address) Via email ([email protected]) Via web-based data entry system at:
http://wildlifedisease.nbii.gov/seanet Contact SEANET for username and password
SUBMITTING DATA ONLINE• Contact Tufts for Username and password for online data entry
USING THE BEACHED BIRD FOOT KEY
Identify the Foot Type Family using the Foot KeyThe key divides birds by simple characters such as:
number of toesdegree of webbingtarsus shape and lengthheel shape and size
Make sure to look at the entire foot- some hind toes are small!
hind toefront toe
All will have3 - 4 toes(very few with 5)
?
APPLICATIONS OF SEANET DATA
Live Bird ObservationsShorebird and seabird abundance data
Migration patterns population trends, range shifts Piping Plovers – banded siblings observed together by SEANET
New collaboration with eBird Data verification – regional experts
Changes in bird ranges and distributions
Long Island SoundBrown Pelican
Live observation on Long IslandFound dead in CT
Baseline data for Oil and Wind Energy
Development projects
Oil spills
Example: Illegal bilge dumping in Canada
• Minimum of 300,000 birds oiled each year off NL (75% of beached birds were oiled in late 90s)
• Illegal dumping of oily bilge wastes
• Bill C-15 in Canada, in force June 28, 2005
SEANET data used in support (~2% oiling rate in New England)
58 Red-throated loons drowned in gill nets at Napeague State Park, Long Island, NY November and December 2008
Detected by SEANET and reported; currently under investigation by USFWS
Fisheries Interactions: Bycatch on Long Island, NY
Detection of Emerging Infectious Diseases
Mass mortality events can indicate disease outbreaks
Selective sampling of dead birds (when funding available):
Avian InfluenzaNewcastles
SalmonellaGiardia CryptosporidiumBrucella
Necropsy Case Reports
Greater shearwater mortalities on Martha’s Vineyard
(Necropsies conducted at Tufts Veterinary School)
Necropsies conducted by collaborating veterinarians in some states
Necropsy findings
All juvenilesAll emaciatedMany with plastic
pieces in lower stomach (gizzard)
The true role of the plastic?
Comparison with birds drowned in fishing nets (bycaught):
(1) Bycaught birds were juveniles in excellent condition
(2) Bycaught birds had all ingested plastic
Future directions: chronic effects of plastic ingestion?
Compare plastic loads and contaminants in bycaught adult birds —accumulation over lifetime?
Endocrine disruption or other toxic effects?
SEANET Blog: check for updateshttp://seanetters.wordpress.com
Acknowledgments
MANY non-profits (e.g. Audubon) State and federal agencies (e.g. USFWS) University researchers Tufts veterinary students
SEANET Funding
The SEANET main office is housed on the campus of Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine (Mass)
Two full-time staff (including Director & Volunteer Coordinator) rely on funding from donors, federal agencies, and foundations to run the program
If you, or someone you know, cannot volunteer for SEANET, but want to help out - please consider giving a donation Funding is needed for:
Salaries for staff at TuftsVolunteer suppliesResearch projectsStudent interns