SEANET News Archives
Selected Past Presentations and Trainings - 2004-2006
- SEANET and Conservation Medicine Presentation: April 24, 8:00 pm for the Jersey Shore Chapter of the Sierra Club. at the Unitarian Universalist Meetinghouse in Lincroft, NJ.
- SEANET Beached Bird Survey Volunteer Training in southern NJ April 22, 12:00-2:00 pm at the Wetlands Institute in Stone Harbor.
- Presentation: "Investigating Tern Mortalities on Cape Cod Through SEANET" at the Cape Cod Natural History Conference, March 25, 2006, Cape Cod Community College, West Barnstable.
- BEACHED BIRD SURVEY VOLUNTEER TRAININGS in NEW JERSEY:
Saturday, December 3, 2005 at Brookdale Community College Ocean Institute, Sandy Hook, NJ at 2:00 pm, Becky Harris and Christine Banks (Wildlife Trust) held a training for volunteers interested in doing monthly or bi-monthly beached bird surveys in northern/central NJ. Please click here for more info.
Sunday, December 4, 2005 at the Wetlands Institute, Cape May, NJ at 1:00 pm, Becky Harris held a training for volunteers interested in doing monthly or bi-monthly beached bird surveys in southern NJ. Please click here for more info
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BI-NATIONAL VOLUNTEER TRAINING:
March 26, 2005 at the Downeast Heritage Center, Calais, ME at 1:00 pm, Becky Harris (SEANET) and Becky Whittam (Bird Studies Canada) held a joint training for volunteers in the downeast Maine - southern New Brunswick, Canada region. Please click here for more info.
Saturday March 19, 2005 at Cape Cod Community College hosted by Massachusetts Audubon Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, at 9:30 am Becky Harris spoke about SEANET: Data on Die-offs, Disease, and Development.
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January 20, 2005 at the Waterbird Society / Pacific Seabird Group joint annual meeting, Portland, OR We organized a special paper session entitled "Beached Bird Surveys: Lessons to Learn - Past, Present, and Future." Thirteen presenters from 6 countries, including 6 states and provinces, discussed their findings and experiences with beached bird surveys. This was the first opportunity for an international community of researchers using this citizen science ecological monitoring tool to come together. The session and discussion focused on methods, analysis, results from long-term studies, detection of threats (oil spills, chronic oiling, oil and gas and wind developments, etc.), the value of necropsies, turning data into policy, collection standards, incorporation into GIS and data use, sharing, and applicability. Abstracts and some powerpoint presentations will be available on this site soon. Click here for more information on the Waterbirds/PSG conference.
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January 8, 2005 at the CT Audubon Coastal Center, Milford, CT we held a beached bird survey volunteer training from 10:00 am - noon for those in the CT area. click here for details.
November 5 and 6 at the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, CT Wildlife Trust scientists held two beached bird survey volunteer trainings. click here for details.
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October 25 at Maine Audubon Headquarters, Gilsland Farm, Falmouth, Maine, "FEATHERS AND FINS: What birds and fish teach us about local and regional ecological health" - Becky Harris, PhD, Michele Walsh, DVM, of SEANET, Elizabeth Stone, DVM, of the Maine Avian Health Surveillance Project, and Naomi Schalit of Maine Rivers discussed their innovative efforts to use the morbidity and mortality of birds in Maine to provide information about regional ecological health, and the role alewife populations play in a healthy Gulf of Maine ecosystem.
October 1 and 2 at the James J. Howard Marine Sciences Laboratory, with Wildlife Trust, NOAA Office of Response and Restoration and NY/NJ Baykeeper in Sandy Hook, NJ - We had a record turnout at this Jersey shore training - about 140 volunteers now walking beaches in NJ!
September 28 at Merrymeeting Audubon meeting, Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Maine, Becky Harris talked about threats to seabirds and the SEANET project in the Gulf of Maine
September 28 at the Society for Conservation GIS Conference GIS Specialist, Beth Suedmeyer talked about GIS applications in conservation medicine
September 22 at Stockton State College, at 3:35 pm Mark Pokras, DVM, Director of Tufts Wildlife Clinic and Center for Conservation Medicine spoke on "101 Things You Can Learn from a Dead Seabird"
July 28 and August 1 at the International Society for Conservation Biology Conference Becky Harris talked about SEANET in the NY Bioscape region and with Scott Johnston of USFWS, led a discussion on research needs surrounding offshore wind energy development
June 19-20 at the Hog Island National Audubon Camp in Maine SEANET volunteer training and seabird conservation workshop, field trip, and seabird necropsy demo with Becky Harris, Michele Walsh, DVM and Tufts veterinary students
May 1 at Maine Audubon headquarters SEANET volunteer training workshop
April 25-28 at Northeast Regional Fish and Wildlife Conference in Maryland poster presentation on SEANET with TriState Bird Research and Rescue
April 2-4 at the International Conference of the Atlantic Seabird Group in Aberdeen, Scotland poster presentation on SEANET
March 20 at the Cape Cod Natural History Conference in West Barnstable, MA presentation on SEANET on Cape Cod
March 19-20 at the Wetlands Institute in Cape May, NJ SEANET volunteer trainings coordinated by Scott Newman, Wildlife Trust
March 13-15 at the National Park Service Headquarters, Jamaica Bay; Dowling College/Coastal Research and Education Society of Long Island; and Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation on Long Island SEANET volunteer trainings coordinated by Becky Harris and Scott Newman, Wildlife Trust
January 8 at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute lecture series SEANET presentation by Mark Pokras, DVM and Flo Tseng, DVM
- August 26, 2006 at the Audubon Society of Rhode Island SEANET volunteer training by Julie Ellis and Mark Pokras, DVM
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Past Mortality Events, etc.
(click here for recent mortality event news)
Northern Gannet die-off in Northeastern US
July-August 2005 and 2006: From DE to MA, wildlife rehabilitators have been reporting what appears to be greater than normal gannet mortality. Some birds have exhibited neurologic signs, and histopathology revealed abnormal lesions on some birds' brains. Other tests are still pending, but stay tuned for more updates.
Shearwater die-offs throughout Atlantic coast
June-July 2005: From FL to VA, reports of shearwater (and other s eabird) mortality have been coming in to wildlife rehabilitators and agencies. Mortality of shearwaters seems to be higher than "normal" (as many as 150 birds on one beach on one day), with birds beaching, often staggering and unable to fly. Necropsies are being done at University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine, Southeast Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study in cooperation with National Wildlife Health Center, and results are still pending (click here for preliminary report from SCWDS). We are starting to get reports of several beached (dead) shearwaters on the MA coast from researchers and beached bird monitors. Please contact me with any reports of dead and dying shearwaters even if you are not regularly walking a beach (becky.harris"at"tufts.edu).
Red Tide in MA affected terns
May-June 2005: On Monomoy NWR, at least 40 common terns died, some showing signs that indicate possible red tide effects - these include regurgitated piles of fish nearby, ineffectual wing-beating, falling forward, signs of paralysis. It is likely that these birds were exposed to saxitoxin (the biotoxin that causes paralytic shellfish poisoning) from eating fish that were carrying the toxin. Sand launce, a common prey item for terns in this region, are filter-feeding fish that can contain the biotoxin. Necropsies of the birds were done at Tufts and the National Wildlife Health Center, and samples of fish, gastro-intestinal contents, and tern livers will be tested for saxitoxin. UPDATE: several samples tested positive for saxitoxin, and necropsies revealed that the majority of the birds were egg-laying females, many of which displayed the expected signs of PSP in birds, such as inflamed intestines.
If beached bird surveyors or researchers come upon fresh dead birds, especially if partially-eaten or regurgitated fish are nearby, please save and freeze fish and bird carcasses. Contact Becky Harris (becky.harris"at"tufts.edu) to coordinate necropsy and sample testing.
The last time a red tide of this magnitude was documented off MA was 1978. At least 70 terns died as a result of this event, also in a colony on Monomoy NWR. Ian Nisbet reported these results in a 1983 paper in the Condor 85: 338-345, entitled "Paralytic shellfish poisoning: effects on breeding terns". He reported PSP toxin at lethal levels in regurgitated sand launce. All terns that were found dead for which sex was determined were egg-laying females.
Other Mortality Events:
 Thick-billed murre mortality - February 2005: There was an influx of thick-billed murres (and a few other alcids) on the coasts of MA, NH, and ME (with a couple reports as far south as NC!). Lots of these birds turned up dead or moribund on beaches. Cause of death is unknown, but necropsies revealed most but not all birds were emaciated or thin, so it is likely that birds had trouble finding food. It is unusual to find murres so close to shore, so studies of oceanographic conditions were done to determine if there was anything out of the ordinary, but nothing conclusive were found.
Tern mortality - August 2004: CAUTIONARY NOTE: there have been large mortality incidents involving mainly tern fledglings during the summer of 2004 on Cape Cod. Several of these terns have tested positive for salmonella. The information you provide from beached bird surveys becomes all the more important during a mortality event like this.
Please pay particular attention to safety precautions when handling dead birds. National Wildlife Health Center guidelines: Anyone having contact with sick or dead birds should wear gloves (or at least use a plastic bag over your hand to collect them), and should wash thoroughly immediately after handling the birds. Waterless hand sanitizer (alcohol in a gel substrate) can be useful if facilities are not available and can help in preventing contamination of vehicles and equipment. Be sure to wash thoroughly before eating, drinking, or handling water containers (bottles, canteens, etc.).
Oil Spills Threaten Atlantic coast:
Delaware River: On Friday, November 26, 2004, a Cypriot-registered tanker spilled about 30,000 gallons of crude oil into the river between Philadelphia and southern New Jersey. Crews have been trying to contain the 20-mile-long slick, amid concerns over the area's wildlife. The government has reported more than four dozens birds are dead and 300 others are affected, but it will take time for the full extent of the damage to be assessed. SEANET volunteers in the area play a key role in monitoring their beaches for oiled birds in the next few months - as temperatures increase this spring, oil may resuspend - please let us know if you find any oiled birds, take pictures, and note oil coverage.
 Oil Spills In Newfoundland: <from Ian Jones, PhD, Chair, Atlantic Cooperative Wildlife Ecology Research Network> Flatrock, Newfoundland, March 3, 2005 - at least 1,200 eiders were exposed to oil deliberately dumped at sea during the last week of February - see http://www.mun.ca/acwern for photos:
About 165,000 litres of oil flowed directly into the Atlantic Ocean November 21, 2004 because of a mechanical malfunction aboard Terra Nova's floating offshore oil platform. Production at Terra Nova, the second-largest oil field off the coast of Newfoundland, has been suspended while an investigation continues. As of last Thursday (11/25) the slick extended to more than 50 square kilometers of sea surface.
Andrew Boyne, a biologist with the Canadian Wildlife Service, says tens of thousands of birds are congregating in the area of the spill, on the edge of the Grand Banks. Many of those birds will die after they come into contact with oil on the ocean's surface, Boyne says, but he adds it's hard to estimate the extent of the damage. "The truth is we'll never have a definitive answer, because a lot of these birds are going to sink," he says. "A lot of these birds will get oiled and fly out of the area, and we'll never see them." The birds include murres, dovekies and black-legged kittiwakes, as well as migrating birds, including shearwaters. Ian Jones, the head of seabird ecology at Memorial University, says the spill could be devastating. "The numbers of birds that would be expected to be killed in a spill of this size would definitely number in the hundreds, possibly in the thousands, possibly even in the tens of thousands," Jones says. "Really, in the end, it's no exaggeration to say that up to 100,000 birds could be killed by this spill."
Up to 'hundreds' of freshly oiled thick-billed murres and dovekies started coming ashore in the southern Avalon Peninsula on Saturday. For pictures see: http://www.mun.ca/acwern/oilyturrsNov28.html
Oil samples from these are being tested to see whether the oil on them is Terra Nova oil. At least 20 live oiled thick-billed murres have been brought in for rehabilitation - others have been euthanized.
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