Menunkatuck and SEANET Will be Partnering for Beached Bird Surveys

Menunkatuck Audubon Society will be partnering with SEANET in organizing volunteers for beached bird surveys along the Connecticut shore from Madison to West Haven. 

The Seabird Ecological Assessment Network (SEANET) is a citizen science program that brings together interdisciplinary researchers and members of the public in a long-term collaborative effort to identify and mitigate threats to marine birds.

SEANET was initiated by the Tufts Center for Conservation Medicine, in collaboration with the Lloyd Center for Environmental Studies in Massachusetts, during Autumn 2002. Since this time, the project has expanded to beaches throughout New England, New York, New Jersey, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. 

SEANET volunteers conduct year-round beached bird surveys in order to identify and record information about bird mortality along the east coast of the United States. Data collected by hundreds of SEANET volunteers are used to examine the spatial pattern of bird carcass deposition and how it varies across time.

These surveys provide baseline information about bird mortality and can help to detect mass mortality events due to oil spills, algal toxins, and disease outbreaks. Marine birds can serve as indicators of ecosystem and human health; monitoring the threats they face and their mortality patterns can teach us about the health of the marine environment.

Photo: W. Stanton

Amy Hopkins and Dennis Riordan have identified about 27 beaches in the Chapter area that could be surveyed, fifteen that meet the SEANET protocol of being one kilometer long and another 12 that could be combined in pairs to make about 1 km. We are now looking for people who are interested in participating in the SEANET surveys. SEANET volunteers must conduct surveys at least twice every month, close to two weeks apart. If you are only able to walk once a month, but still want to participate, we will pair you up with another volunteer so that you will generate twice monthly walks between you. If you are interested in becoming a SEANET volunteer, go to goo.gl/HI2Nw and complete the form.

Even if you aren’t a Seanetter, SEANET wants your information should you come across a SEANET tagged bird. The volunteers place orange cable ties on the wings, legs and beaks of the birds they find. Many of the volunteers also affix individually numbered aluminum tags. If you find a bird that you suspect was tagged as part of the project, please don’t disturb, move or throw it away! SEANET collects data on how long dead birds stay on the beach, and whether they move up and down

the coast with the tides. If you find a SEANET bird, please leave it where it is, snap a photo if you can, note the tag number (if present) and send the info along to Sarah Courchesne via email (sarah.courchesne@tufts.edu).

For the latest SEANET news and updates, visit the SEANET Blog.

(From the May 2013 newsletter)