SEANET

Seabird Ecological Assessment Network (SEANET)

In 2002 the Lloyd Center entered a partnership with the Tufts School of Conservation Medicine to initiate the Seabird Ecological Assessment Network (SEANET) in the Buzzards Bay region, the first such effort along the Atlantic coast.  Volunteers from Westport to Wareham walk assigned beaches monthly in search of beached seabirds. They document baseline environmental conditions on their beach and information about any bird carcasses found. Volunteers record body measurements, take photographs, and note bird condition and perceived cause of mortality.

Whole specimens are taken to the Lloyd Center freezer before being transported to Tufts for necropsy. These birds become indicators of events such as mass seabird die-off caused by oil spills that begin well beyond the range of the telescope.  Whether it’s spills, algal blooms, entanglement in fishing line, or disease affecting seabird populations, patterns and  timeframe of bird carcass deposition along the shores of  Buzzards Bay can be tied to known events and ocean conditions within and beyond the Bay. Fishermen using oceans for economic gain, scientists managing the marine ecosystems for biodiversity, or ornithologists devising management plans for a particular species all use SEANET information that starts with observations of Lloyd Center volunteers. The goal of SEANET then is to gain information about the status of the elusive seabirds, how human use is impacting the ecosystems within which seabirds must thrive, and the distribution of the dead birds throughout the Bay.

Species found along Buzzards Bay have included offshore dwellers such as the razor-billed auk, dovekie, northern gannet, surf scoter, Bonaparte’s gull, manx and greater shearwaters, and wilson’s storm petrels. Birds more commonly viewed from the mainland that wash up occasionally include red-breasted merganser, bufflehead, Canada goose, red-throated and common loons, common eider, dunlin, all resident gull species, and both least and common terns.

For information on becoming a SEANET volunteer, please email Research Associate, Jamie Bogart, at jbogart@lloydcenter.org, or call (508) 990-0505
ext. 23.