**Abstract:**

The southern tip of Africa is experiencing marked changes in land and sea temperatures, wind patterns and ocean currents, with resulting impacts on marine species and ecosystems. One of the most affected species, the endangered African penguin (<I>Spheniscus demersus</I>), has declined dramatically in recent decades, but climate change is rarely acknowledged as a key contributor to this population trajectory. However, the critical threat to this species, reduced food abundance, is exacerbated by climate change driven reduced prey abundance and distribution shifts. Extreme weather, leading to hyperthermia and abandonment of penguin chicks by parents, habitat loss due to storm surges and heavy rain, and disease outbreaks have all been exacerbated by climate change. While some conservation measures promoting climate change adaptation have been implemented, others remain in the planning phase or are purely contemplative "penguins in the sky". We report on current and planned management interventions, such as rescue of penguins, in particular abandoned eggs and chicks, provisioning and rehabilitation of safe nesting habitat as well as improved habitat protection from erosion and flooding, improving fish availability (through improved fisheries management and declaration of MPAs), establishment of new colonies, disease surveillance and prevention, and parasite studies. Several such interventions are already in their initial phases, creating species' resilience and raising awareness for climate change among government and resource managers. "Penguin in the sky" interventions, i.e. those that might seem far-fetched at present, may however become necessities under rapidly escalating climate change impacts. These include increasing the elevation of breeding islands, creating new islands and securing land upslope of mainland populations for conservation, complete closure of fisheries -- and others that we haven't yet thought of.

**Authors:**

Katta Ludynia¹, Nicola van Wilgen², Wendy Foden², Alison Kock², Darrell Abernethy³, Barbara Barham⁴, Peter Barham⁵, Marcela Espinaze⁶, Christina Hagen⁷, Azwianewi Makhado⁸, Trudi Malan⁹, Sonja Matthee⁶, Alistair McInnes⁷, Arne Purves¹⁰, Laura Roberts¹¹, Kevin Shaw¹², Richard Sherley¹³, Albert Snyman¹⁴, Lauren Waller¹⁵

¹SANCCOB/University of Cape Town, ²SANParks, ³University of Pretoria, ⁴Penguin Datasystems, ⁵University of Bristol, ⁶University of Stellenbosch, ⁷BirdLife South Africa, ⁸Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, ⁹Dyer Island Conservation Trust, ¹⁰City of Cape Town, ¹¹Western Cape Government, ¹²CapeNature, ¹³University of Exeter, ¹⁴SANCCOB, ¹⁵SANCCOB/UWC

Current, planned and "Penguins in the sky" - Management interventions for the Endangered African penguin in face of Climate Change

**Abstract:**

For the past half century anthropogenic and non-biodegradable materials known collectively as marine debris have been tainting the worlds pelagic and coastal waters in an ever increasing manner. Marine debris impacts at least 267 species, including 44% of seabird species with entanglement and ingestion representing the most frequent of consequences. The Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) has operated a facility in Cape Town since 1968 which rehabilitates sick, injured and oiled seabirds. SANCCOB treats more than 1000 endangered African penguins (<I>Spheniscus demersus</I>) annually together with a diversity of mostly coastal seabirds including three other endangered Benguela endemics. Seabirds are regarded as bioindicators of the marine environment and have been used to understand patterns in particulate debris levels in the oceans. SANCCOB provides an ideal environment to assess the extent of entanglement and ingestion on seabirds along South Africa's coastline. The study focusses on seabirds admitted to SANCCOB in Cape Town that have been affected by entanglement and ingestion by anthropogenic debris over the past decade. This allows for a better understanding of spatial and temporal trends in entanglement and ingestion as well as bird species most affected. The study helps to identify hotspots and possible sources of coastal pollution which assists in improving effective management interventions and coastal policies to reduce marine debris along our coastline. The number of seabirds admitted to SANCCOB with debris related injuries has increased each year from 2013 to 2018. Kelp gulls (<I>Larus dominicanus</I>), Hartlaub's gulls (<I>Chroicocephalus hartlaubii</I>) and African penguins were most frequently affected. Ingestion of debris was seen in 51% of cases and entanglement 44%. Entanglement most commonly caused leg and wing injuries and ingestion, gastric complications.

**Authors:**

Kyle Maurer¹, Katta Ludynia¹, Albert Snyman¹

¹SANCCOB

Marine Debris Entanglement and Ingestion of Coastal Birds Admitted to SANCCOB 2008- 2018

**Session Replay:** [Click here](https://zoom.us/rec/share/F3SPWqpRP-7jf4eMHVY6auz_kubo4UezmjzeEoePk1GefIJwo7cIa1bUASjdtAsw.x2JfwybXLBZNxxrt?startTime=1633565827000)<br><br>

<i>**Session Chair: **Alistair Hobday</i><br><br> 
**Session Description:**<br>The impacts of climate variability, and now climate change, on seabird distribution, abundance and performance are widely documented. Many changes are also in remote locations, however, long term negative trends mean that business-as-usual conservation approaches are no longer sufficient. Managers and scientists should not be planning to simply continue to document long-term declines, and many are considering interventions to aid adaptation. These efforts can be interventions that directly reduce climate change impacts through reduction of direct exposure (e.g. artificial watering) or sensitivity (e.g. supplemental feeding) to the climate driver, or increase adaptive capacity (e.g. removal of invasive competitors). Climate adaptation efforts for a range of seabird species are now starting to be considered, trialled and integrated with management initiatives. In some cases, interventions have been developed for non-climate threats, and these experiences mean transfer for climate-motivated interventions is likely to be more successful. While a strong knowledge base to support intervention decisions is desirable, due to the rate of climate change some interventions will need to be trialled with imperfect knowledge, and learning will emerge through the deployment of the adaptation strategy. We seek contributions that discuss decision frameworks for adaptation and intervention, present action-oriented case studies, and provide examples of biological and ethical conflicts. This session will stimulate debate about the role of intervention in securing healthy seabird populations as climate rapidly changes the environment.<br>

Symposium 7 - Adaptation and interventions as a climate response I

symposium

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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3rd World Seabird Conference

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

Katrin Ludynia

2

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Presentations

Current, planned and "Penguins in the sky" - Management interventions for the Endangered African penguin in face of Climate Change

Marine Debris Entanglement and Ingestion of Coastal Birds Admitted to SANCCOB 2008- 2018

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