United States

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>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rCc-s9eu6og" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JOLEP6uTMuc" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>



3rd World Seabird Conference

Join us for four days of science, networking and virtual engagement with delegates from around the world!

**Abstract:**

Haematologic analyses can reveal the physiological condition of birds, who are known to efficiently disguise symptoms of stress and disease. However, interpretation of such analyses requires species-specific baseline data, which are lacking for most free-living seabird species. We provide baseline reference data for several haematological parameters in Northern gannets (Morus bassanus) and combine this with telemetry and dietary data to understand the links between haemotologic condition and foraging behaviour. Blood samples were collected from breeding Northern gannets in July 2017 (n = 15) and 2018 (n = 28), which were also equipped with GPS tags. Smears were prepared for performing blood cell counts, including immature erythrocyte and microcyte percentages, total and differential leucocyte counts, heterophil:lymphocyte (H:L) ratio, and total thrombocyte count; the remaining blood was used for stable isotope analysis, and foraging behaviours were inferred from the recovered tag data. Blood cell counts revealed that the sampled birds were highly stressed and some showed an immune response, evident from the abnormal leucocyte counts and H:L ratio. There were no sex-related differences in haematological parameters or diet, in contrast to foraging parameters where females undertook longer trips than males and spent proportionately more time in search behaviours. The percentage time spent actively foraging was negatively correlated with the percentage of eosinophils. While there was no direct link between haematologic condition and diet, one bird feeding at a relatively low trophic level undertook exceptionally short foraging trips and showed abnormal blood cell counts. This suggests a link between haematologic condition and foraging ecology that can be employed in assessing seabird health.

**Authors:**

Zaraa Malvat¹, Sharon Lynch¹, Ashley Bennison¹, Mark Jessopp¹

¹University College Cork

Evidence of links between haematologic condition and foraging behaviour in Northern gannets (Morus bassanus)

technical paper

Substantial viral diversity in Antarctic penguins and their ticks: no evidence for low pathogen pressure

What we know and what we should know to mitigate seabird mortality induced by light pollution

A structured approach to recovery planning for NZ's rarest breeding seabird

Hematology and blood parasites of seabirds at Rocas Atoll, Brazil

Seabird assemblage associated with pelagic longline fisheries off southern Brazil

Evaluating the coexistence of Imperial Cormorant and Rock Shag through isotopic niches at different colonies in central Patagonia, Argentina

Trophic segregation in Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster) drive by fishing activities in a coastal archipelago in the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean.

Winter habitat associations of marine predators in the northern California Current

The foraging effort of the Wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans) during breeding and migration seasons

Faithful nomads and flexible faithfulness: foraging behaviour of four sympatric albatross species in a dynamic environment

symposium

poster

https://d3smihljt9218e.cloudfront.net/transcript/22789/subtitle/1a0ad368fdbf054e0dcc56ea34d23407.vtt

English

Evidence of links between haematologic condition and foraging behaviour in Northern gannets (Morus bassanus)

Downloads

Next from 3rd World Seabird Conference

Substantial viral diversity in Antarctic penguins and their ticks: no evidence for low pathogen pressure

Similar lecture

Influenza A (H11N2) detection in fecal samples from penguins in Antarctica