United States

**Abstract:**

Since the 1970s, the oceans have buffered the increasing amount of heat as a result of increasing atmospheric temperatures. Since 2013, a large, anomalous patch of warm water has persisted around North America?s west coast and is believed to be the primary cause for thousands of seabird and marine mammal mortalities. While the mechanism(s) are not entirely understood, the cause of the deaths has largely been identified to be starvation. Short-tailed Shearwaters Ardenna tenuirostris (STSH) experienced significant mass mortality (?wreck?) events on their foraging grounds in the North Pacific Ocean. During June to August 2019, at least 9,000 STSH died. In September, STSH begin their ~11,000 km southward migration to their breeding grounds in southeast Australia. Widespread reports of late arrivals raised further concerns for this highly synchronous species. The numbers at colonies were substantially lower than previous years. We document the breeding success of two STSH colonies in southeast Tasmania, and compare the 2019/20 breeding population size with data from 2011.

**Authors:**

Jacqueline Glencross¹, Jennifer Lavers¹, Eric Woehler²

¹University of Tasmania, ²Birdlife Tasmania

3rd World Seabird Conference

Breeding success of Short-tailed Shearwaters Ardenna tenuirostris following large-scale oceanographic change

Welcome Seabirders!  

Welcome to Virtual World Seabird Conference 3 - vWSC3! Whether you are in your office or lab, at home, in a coffee shop or bar poaching some wifi, or at a remote field site or research vessel – we are very excited to welcome you to the third ever World Seabird Conference. 

We would like to thank ALL of you for being so patient as WSC3 was scheduled, postponed, rescheduled, revised to virtual, and scheduled again. Throughout all those iterations there was one message that remained perfectly clear – seabirders were eager to meet and share their science. If we could not meet in person then virtual it would have to be, but a 3rd WSC was something everyone wanted. That support and commitment helped the WSU Board of Directors and Member Societies sort through all of the challenges they faced to plan and hold this conference. 

The list of those that need to be thanked is long and, while we plan on recognizing many during the live closing plenary, it is important to do so here in writing as well. 

The Australasian Seabird Group was our Local Host for our plan to meet in Hobart, Tasmania. They invested substantial time and effort to find venues and plan events that we unfortunately were not able to visit. Nonetheless we appreciate their work on behalf of WSC3 and encourage all of you to thank them when you see their members in Gathertown or elsewhere during our virtual meeting. Their willingness to host created the initial excitement for WSC3 and without that our vWSC would not have been possible.

We also wish to thank the Science Program Committee, the Virtual Committee, and the Early Career Scientist Committee for their hard work planning the logistics, events, and schedule for vWSC3. These committees also had to deal with changing parameters and short timelines that made what is always a challenging task even more challenging. The Travel Awards Committee also invested time and effort in developing procedures for awarding travel funds that ultimately would not be implemented. 

Our ability to shift from an in-person to a virtual meeting, and to do so in a way that would be financially feasible, was due to the effective efforts of The International Fundraising Committee and to our financial sponsors. The IFC raised funds to support WSC3 and then, through the good relationships they built with sponsors, ensured we could re-envision how those funds could be used to support a virtual conference that would be affordable and high-quality.

We all owe the WSU Board of Directors and the Representatives of the Member Societies a great deal of thanks. They are the ones who manage the WSU and, for the past 18 months, have had to have a series of challenging meetings and conversations, have had to make a series of difficult choices, have had to do all of that while considering the short- and long-term health of WSU and the World Seabird Conferences, and did this while also managing their own challenges at their day jobs. We are grateful for their diligence, patience, foresight, and throughout all of the meetings, their collegiality. Also – a 6-year term is quite a commitment!

There would not be a WSC3 without a successful WSC1 and WSC2. Thanks go to the Pacific Seabird Group for their support of WSC1 in Victoria, Canada, and to the African Seabird Group for their support of WSC2 in Cape Town, South Africa. In each of these endeavors and for our current conference we were fortunate to work with a dependable and trustworthy partner in Podium Conferences. Michelle Smith and Marischal de Armond have become valued members of our team and have not only helped us plan conferences but have assisted and advised the WSU Chairs and Board on issues above and beyond conference planning. 

As we embark on our vWSC3 week we extend to all of you our thanks for showing up, for being patient, and most importantly for the work you do with seabirds. We are all part of a unique, global community that shares an interest, a fascination, and a passion for birds that make a living in our world’s oceans. We have advanced the science, conservation, and management of seabirds as well the ecosystems they inhabit. We are consistently impressed and motivated by the work you do. 

The WSU formed in 2010 because we saw the need for a global organization to address challenges at a global level. Over the past 11 years WSU has grown, adapted, and evolved to become the community that this week is making vWSC3 a reality. Enjoy the week, appreciate and support the friends and colleagues you have made in the community, and if you see us in a virtual hallway please stop and say hello! 

Thank you for the opportunity to serve all of you and the WSU over the past few years,

Nicholas Carlile, Interim Chair, WSU<br>
Patrick Jodice, 2nd Chair of the WSU<br><br>

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Join us for four days of science, networking and virtual engagement with delegates from around the world!

symposium

**Abstract:**

In 2019 the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss were declared globally, and this year we will see both COP15 for biodiversity and COP26 for climate change being held. Renewables energy has a key role in reducing the effects of climate change, however offshore wind developments may impact on breeding and non-breeding marine bird populations. Many of the birds with potential to interact with renewable sites will breed and forage in our protected Natura site network, including Special Protection Areas (SPAs). How then do we travel to a net zero carbon economy as well as addressing the biodiversity crisis? In Scotland we are in the fortunate position that there have been a large number of research projects commissioned over the last decade, particularly by Marine Scotland, to help improve our understanding of the interactions of offshore wind farms and marine birds. Through ScotMER (Scottish Marine Energy Research Programme) and collaborative workshops NatureScot and Marine Scotland have developed a series of guidance to inform the environmental impact assessments (EIA) for the next round of offshore wind developments in Scottish Waters, ScotWind. The guidance addresses each step from identifying connectivity to protected areas to assessing population level impacts to inform decision making. Recommendations from these workshops and progress made on tackling the key knowledge gaps issues will be presented, as well as an overview of guidance. This work demonstrates the huge value in bringing together specialist experts to help inform future policy and decision making. To tackle the novel and complex issues in considering of renewable development impacts on marine birds collaborative thinking between scientists, advisers, regulators and industry is essential.

**Authors:**

Alexandra Robbins¹, Tom Evans²

¹NatureScot, ²Marine Scotland Science

Science, policy and industry working together in Scotland to develop impact assessments for offshore wind farms and marine birds

**Abstract:**

Using integrated radar-camera technology to study seabird flight behaviour at Vattenfall's European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre Vattenfall has been carrying out its ground-breaking environmental research at the Aberdeen Offshore Windfarm (EOWDC). The project is being managed by RPS and DHI who have deployed high-performance, integrated radar-camera technology on turbines to monitor the flight patterns of breeding seabirds at the EOWDC facility over the course of two years. The aim of the project is to improve the understanding of seabird flight behaviour and reduce uncertainty in the assessment of the potential impacts of offshore windfarms. The study has been generating data on bird flight activity since the installation of the equipment in late summer 2019. Radar and video recordings provide tracks of birds that allow us to examine species-specific flight and foraging behaviour, flight height, flight speed and meso- and micro-avoidance, as well as detection of collisions. Initial results demonstrated that the equipment is functioning as planned. The project focusses on Northern Gannet, Black-legged Kittiwake and large gull species. The initial trial period in late summer 2019 provided data to refine the analytical design and highlighted the challenges of data collection and analysis, including consideration of objectively classifying and quantifying micro-avoidance behaviour, data collection in rough weather conditions, tracking multiple targets and shadow-effect of turbines. At the 3rd World Seabird Conference, we will present the results of the monitoring from the first full seabird breeding season in 2020.

**Authors:**

Mike Armitage¹, Henrik Skov²

¹RPS Group, ²DHI

Using integrated radar-camera technology to study seabird flight behaviour at Vattenfall's European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre

**Abstract:**

Offshore wind energy development is a new industry in the United States. While lessons can be learned from Europe, where the industry is more established, effects to seabirds, such as collision risk and displacement, must be understood within the ecological and regulatory context for American offshore wind development. Through regional, science-based collaboration, the state of New York is taking a multiscale approach to understand the potential impacts of offshore wind energy development on marine birds and ensure environmentally responsible development. New York has convened multiple efforts, bringing together subject matter and quantitative experts, developers, and other offshore wind stakeholders to develop frameworks, methodologies, and research priorities to guide research on the impacts to marine birds from offshore wind development. The first of these efforts was to develop a broad framework for studying impacts to birds and bats, including hypotheses and study methodologies to answer key questions relating to effects of offshore wind energy on marine birds. This effort in turn fed into a larger stakeholder engagement effort, the State of the Science Workshop on Wildlife and Offshore Wind Energy 2020: Cumulative Impacts. In addition to plenary sessions focused on understanding cumulative biological impacts, a taxon-specific workgroup focused on birds was formed to identify key research studies and other efforts that should be conducted in the next 5 years to improve our understanding of cumulative impacts from offshore wind energy development in the eastern U.S. The latter efforts resulted in the identification of 19 short-term research priorities related to avian occurrence and exposure, habitat and resource use, displacement and attraction, collision risk, and population consequences that can help guide future research and funding. Together, these effective stakeholder engagement processes ensure that research priorities are developed transparently in consultation with the scientific community, including researchers across the globe, to direct funding and research to where it is most needed to understand impacts to seabirds from offshore wind energy development. The products from these stakeholder engagement efforts serve as key guidance for both regional and site-specific studies to understand the effects of offshore wind on seabirds.

**Authors:**

Julia Gulka¹, Aonghais Cook², Edward Jenkins¹, Gregory Lampman³, Jillian Liner⁴, Kate McClellan Press⁵, Kate Williams¹

¹Biodiversity Research Institute, ²British Trust for Ornithology, ³New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, ⁴Audubon New York, ⁵New York Energy Research and Development Authority

Developing research frameworks and priorities for understanding impacts to seabirds from offshore wind energy development in the eastern U.S.

**Abstract:**

Floating platform wind projects are being considered for waters overlying the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) of California. Most existing offshore wind projects are fixed to the bottom in shallow, nearshore, Atlantic waters. Avian studies conducted at these sites have involved primarily nearshore species in areas with relatively uniform oceanography and bathymetry. While results from these studies have been informative, the California OCS represents a very different environment supporting much higher numbers and a more diverse array of seabirds due to the high productivity characteristic of eastern boundary currents (e.g., the California Current System; CCS). Many of these species migrate long distances to exploit the abundant resources of the CCS. A number of these eastern Pacific species have flight behaviors adapted for the high winds associated with the CCS. This flight behavior includes dynamic soaring and high "arcing" above the water's surface during strong winds, flight behaviors quite different from the rapidly flapping, direct, low-altitude flight typical of many nearshore seabirds. We review some of the potential wind energy/avian issues associated with the seabird species occupying the outer CCS, the current development of a 3D model of avian species occupancy in space and time across this region, and testing of innovative technology for monitoring birds in the remote offshore environment.

**Authors:**

Scott Terrill¹, Sharon Kramer¹, David Ainley¹, Stephanie Schneider¹

¹H. T. Harvey & Associates

Potential floating wind projects and associated avian issues in California's Outer Continental Shelf waters

**Abstract:**

According to niche theory, sympatrically breeding species with similar diets frequently show foraging niche partitioning to decrease inter-specific competition, e.g. through temporal or spatial separation, or foraging specialisation. In this study, using stable isotope analyses, we aimed to assess the extent of niche overlap, differences in niche width and the relationship between isotopic signatures and chick growth in two sympatric storm-petrel species, Fregetta tropica (BBSP) and Oceanites oceanicus (WSP) breeding in Maritime Antarctica. We analysed δ15N and δ13C in chick down (pre-laying maternal diet), chick feathers (under tail coverts, UTC; current diet) and adult blood (current diet), and δ18O in UTC. We found isotopic (N, C) niche overlap (proportion (± confidence interval) of the standard ellipse area intersection relative to BBSP and WSP areas) for blood (BBSP 0.39 ± 0.18; WSP 0.10 ± 0.05) and down (BBSP 0.57 ± 0.19; WSP 0.26 ± 0.11), but a lack thereof for UTC (BBSP 0.05 ± 0.13; WSP 0.01 ± 0.03). We found wider isotopic niches for WSP compared to BBSP in all three tissues, indicating differences in foraging flexibility between the species. In both species body mass growth was negatively correlated with δ15N (in UTC for BBSP and in down for WSP). Tarsus growth was positively correlated with δ18O in WSP. We found no correlations for δ13C. The observed niche overlap between BBSP and WSP adults during the pre-breeding (down) and chick-rearing (blood) phases can be explained by their reliance on superabundant Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba). Despite similar chick growth rates in both species, BBSP chicks were fed a more nutritious diet, as implied by higher δ15N values, and the more frequent occurrence of fish in BBSP regurgitations reported in previous studies. While the highly productive Antarctic environment might reduce inter-specific foraging competition, chick nutrition requirements might force parents to be more selective in chick prey selection.

**Authors:**

Anne Ausems¹, Grzegorz Skrzypek², Katarzyna Wojczulanis - Jakubas¹, Dariusz Jakubas¹

¹University of Gdansk, ²The University of Western Australia (M090)

Sharing menus or kids specials? Inter- and intraspecific differences isotopic niches between sympatrically breeding storm-petrels

**Abstract:**

A recent decline in the Norwegian populations of Brünnich's and common guillemots, the largest living auks and constituting a substantial amount of North Atlantic seabird biomass, is causing considerable concern. Both species share a very special, semi-precocious breeding strategy with the single chick spending roughly a month on narrow cliff ledges before jumping off while still unable to fly and moving out to sea accompanied by its father. The chicks fledge somewhere on the open ocean. Where they go and how they spend this second half of their rearing period has always been a mystery. With dramatic increases in human impact and activity in the world's oceans over the last decades, it has thus become paramount to document this crucial part of the guillemot life cycle to be able to successfully preserve these threatened species. In this study, we documented and quantified for the first-time the swimming migration of guillemot chicks from when they left the breeding ledge until fledging. To do this, we attached satellite transmitters to chicks of both species immediately before jumping at a high-Arctic colony where they breed sympatrically (Bjørnøya, 74.5°N 18.9°E). At the same time, we attached time-depth recorders to the accompanying fathers to determine the time spent until fledging. Chicks of both species moved rapidly away from the colony at an average speed of 22 to 27 km d-1 along clearly defined routes. For both species, the migration to species-specific autumn staging areas lasted about 2 to 4 weeks. As such, what is an extremely vulnerable period for guillemots is now clearly defined and seems predictable in both space and time. As a result, decisive areal planning of human activities in the areas involved is now possible to mitigate negative impacts on these species.

**Authors:**

Benjamin Merkel¹, Hallvard Strøm²

¹Akvaplan-niva, ²Norwegian Polar Institute

A mystery solved - How and where do guillemot chicks spend their second half of their rearing period?

**Abstract:**

The Mascarene Petrel (Pseudobulweria aterrima) is a critically endangered seabird, endemic to Reunion island (Western Indian ocean island). It is one of the rarest and most endangered birds in the world belonging to the least known seabird genus. The species was supposed to be extinct for 80 years, before being rediscovered in 1970 with a grounded bird. Then, it was only known by several grounded birds and a few flight calls recorded in 2001 but no information was existing on basic breeding biology. The efforts implemented by the collaborative LIFE Petrels program initiated in 2014, allowed us, in 4 years, to collect a lot of scientific knowledge on biology, breeding behaviour and habitat selection. In this study, we focuson the breeding activity, using song recorders and camera traps, in order to describe it for the first time. We recorded and analysed up to 30 000 hours at 121 different locations all the years long and detected more than 120 000 vocalisations since 2015. The use of camera traps on the first two colonies discovered during breeding season 2016/2017 allowed us to analyse up to 5 300 videos which revealed more than 3 800 Mascarene Petrel behaviour. We will present here for the first time the most complete vocal repertory of the species (flight vs ground calls, male vs female, intraspecific interactions) and vocal activity pattern for night, season and moon phases. Finally, we will describe breeding phenology and differences in both colonies surveyed (20 km apart) explaining the 3 months fledgling period.

**Authors:**

Jerome Dubos¹, Patrick Pinet², Martin Riethmuller³, Yahaïa Soulaimanay Mattoir³, Fabien Jan³, François-Xavier Couzi³, Matthieu Lecorre⁴

¹Université de La Réunion (UMR ENTROPIE), ²Parc national de La Réunion, ³SEOR, ⁴Université de La Réunion

Discovery of phenology and breeding behaviour of the critically endangered Mascarene Petrel (Pseudobulweria aterrima) on La Réunion

**Abstract:**

Foraging trip duration is an important mediator of fitness in seabirds. Many species coordinate their trip duration, but how this coordination varies across individuals, or drivers of the trip duration itself are not fully resolved. Age has been shown to affect coordination strength in some seabird species, but the influence of other intrinsic variables, such as personality remain understudied. Furthermore, studies examining whether individual or partner traits set the pair trip duration are lacking. Here we examined the role that boldness and age play in determining individual foraging trip duration and pair coordination exhibited by wandering albatrosses (Diomedea exulans). Saltwater immersion loggers collected foraging trip durations across incubation and brooding periods from one member of 71 pairs on the Crozet archipelago. Foraging trip duration was modelled with personality (human approach testing boldness), age of both partners and partner's previous trip duration. Parental coordination was stronger during incubation when compared with brooding, but it was not influenced by any intrinsic variables in either breeding stage. Surprisingly, individual foraging trip duration during incubation was mainly driven by partner intrinsic characteristics, with birds paired to older and bolder partners taking shorter foraging trips. During brooding, increased boldness of the individual and their partner led to shorter foraging trips but there was no effect of age. Contrary to many predictions, these results suggest that the partner's capacity or willingness to remain on the nest is the major driver of foraging trip duration and they highlight the importance of modelling pair behaviour.

**Authors:**

Fionnuala McCully¹, Henri Weimerskirch², Stephen Cornell¹, Benjamin Hatchwell³, Patrick Samantha¹

¹University of Liverpool, ²Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé (CNRS & La Rochelle Université), ³University of Sheffield

Partner intrinsic characteristics influence foraging trip duration, but not parental care coordination in wandering albatrosses (Diomedea exulans)

**Abstract:**

European gulls Chroicocephalus ridibundus, Larus canus , and L. graellsii have dispersed to North America and all of these except L. canus have bred or attempted to breed. At the same time, North American gulls L. delawarensis, Leucophaeus atricilla, and Leucophaeus pipixcan have dispersed to Europe, although no successful breeding by non-hybrid pairs has yet occurred. We extracted data from the journals North American Birds, British Birds, and several regional ornithological works to examine how transatlantic vagrancy varies year to year and test the hypothesis that population size in the source area predicts vagrancy in the receiving area. We performed a model selection between generalized linear and generalized additive models. At the within-species level, we repeated these analyses for regional populations of L. delawarensis. For both the between-species comparison, and for the within-species comparison, we found moderate support for our hypothesis. We discuss the implications of our findings for the ability of gulls (and other organisms) to adapt to changing climate through exploration of potential new habitats.

**Authors:**

Marlen Acosta Alamo¹, Lisa Manne², Richard Veit²

¹Graduate Center and College of Staten Island, City University of New York, ²CSI and Graduate Center/CITY UNIVERSITY of NEW YORK

Transatlantic Vagrancy in Both Directions: Gulls of the North Atlantic

**Abstract:**

Common murres (Uria aalge) are expected to buffer activity budgets during poor conditions to compensate for low prey availability. However during a marine heatwave (2014-16) in the eastern North Pacific, we found that common murres nesting at Yaquina Head, Oregon, USA had near zero reproductive success (2015-17). Breeding success during this time was compounded by top down pressure from avian predators, primarily bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), and while disturbance rates were highest in 2016 (0.495/hr), rates were slightly lower during the other heatwave years (0.29/hr) than preceding (2011-2013, 0.37/hr), when reproductive success was 0.41±0.06. Murres showed multiple signs of prey limitation during heatwave years. Birds caught at-sea near the colony and fitted with Argos-PTTs (2015-2016, n=15) typically foraged 174 km north at the mouth of the Columbia River. Daytime dives and central place foraging trips were notably longer in duration in 2015 than 2013. Feeding delivery rates during heatwave conditions in 2016 were on average the lowest in our time series ~0.15/hr (1999-2002, 2010-present). Fish length was not notably different from average in 2016, thus it appears murres did not compensate by increasing the size of delivered. In assessing heatwave impact, colony structure was also important, as a small subset of birds in nesting locations protected from eagle disturbance hatched chicks, at reduced rates, during peak heatwave years. The effects of the heatwave persisted into 2017, but in 2018 and 2019 reproductive success was high despite the continued occurrences of bald eagle disturbances. This suggests that predation can impede reproductive effort when prey availability was poor, potentially benefiting individuals by preventing investment in breeding, with reduced effect as foraging conditions improve. Our results indicate that murre reproductive success may be more stochastic as marine heatwaves become more common and the impact of these events may be exacerbated by predation at colonies.

**Authors:**

Jessica Porquez¹, Rachael Orben¹, Jane Dolliver¹, Stephanie Loredo¹, Ana Medina Roman¹, Donald Lyons², Robert Suryan³

¹Oregon State University, Hatfield Marine Science Center, ²National Audubon Society, ³NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center

Breeding success of Short-tailed Shearwaters Ardenna tenuirostris following large-scale oceanographic change

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Breeding success of Short-tailed Shearwaters Ardenna tenuirostris following large-scale oceanographic change

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Science, policy and industry working together in Scotland to develop impact assessments for offshore wind farms and marine birds

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Increased sensitivity of common murres to top-down disturbance by bald eagles during poor foraging conditions of a marine heatwave

Stay up to date with the latest Underline news!

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