THE SEABIRD ECOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT NETWORK (SEANET)

• Sponsoring Institution: Cooperating Schools of Veterinary Medicine
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: STATE
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 0202177
• Project Start Date: Dec 1, 2002
• Project End Date: Dec 31, 2006
• Program Code: [(N/A)]- (N/A)

Recipient Organization
TUFTS UNIVERSITY
200 WESTBORO ROAD
N. GRAFTON,MA 01536

Performing Department
ENVIRONMENTAL & POPULATION HEALTH

Non Technical Summary
Seabirds are very conspicuous organisms in marine ecosystems, and are frequently used as indicators of marine oil pollution, among other threats. At the Wildlife Clinic, we frequently receive calls about large numbers of dead and dying birds on our coast, but there is no organized reporting of these events, as there is for marine mammals and sea turtles. Numerous threats contribute to mortality, including disease, fisheries operations, organic pollutants, heavy metals, and oil pollution. These risks to seabirds also threaten the coastal and marine environments used by humans for respite and ecological services, such as food production, waste elimination, and flood protection. Pinpointing areas of concern enables TuftsCCM and our collaborators to focus on specific causes of mortality or ecological degradation, and propose policy and conservation measures to counteract the threats. This year, the Tufts Center for Conservation Medicine (TuftsCCM) established SEANET, the Seabird Ecological Assessment Network, for the North American northeastern coastal corridor. This large-scale, comprehensive ecosystem health program focuses on seabirds as indicators of marine and coastal ecological health. TuftsCCM is developing a network of seabird and ecological health organizations from Canada to New Jersey, launching `citizen-scientist' beached bird surveys, and collecting data on seabird mortality, population distribution, ocean contamination, and coastal land use, for a SEANET GIS-based repository.

Animal Health Component

100%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

(N/A)

Applied

100%

Developmental

(N/A)

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
133	0820	1160	100%

Knowledge Area
133 - Pollution Prevention and Mitigation;

Subject Of Investigation
0820 - Wild birds;

Field Of Science
1160 - Pathology;

Keywords

mortality

pollutants

networks

wild birds

wildlife

wildlife ecology

aquatic ecosystems

turtles

marine organisms

wildlife population

petroleum

water pollution

oceans

marine waters

geographic information systems

maps

mammals

water contamination

pollution control

fisheries

surveys

data bases

Goals / Objectives
Six primary Seabird Ecological Assessment Network (SEANET) objectives are as follows: 1. Continue to coordinate a web of experts on marine birds, environments, and issues. 2. Expand to New Hampshire and Maine regular beached bird surveys conducted by a network of trained volunteers and students to collect and contribute data on seabird mortality. 3. Strengthen a bycatch recovery effort, in collaboration with the US National Marine Fisheries Service, to develop a descriptive pathology for such birds, and for baseline data on levels of disease, contaminants, and biotoxins in a wide range of species. 4. Produce an Atlantic guide to beached birds, an important resource for everyone involved in data-gathering in the field, in collaboration with Bird Studies Canada and the Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COASST). 5. Continue construction of web-based, searchable databases and interactive GIS maps for the assessment of risk factors and mortality patterns of seabird populations, in collaboration with the National Biological Information Infrastructure (of the USGS and US EPA). This system houses a web-based reporting system, allowing volunteers to enter data directly. 6. Use spatial statistical analyses, to reveal hot-spots of concern, e.g., where high incidence of seabird mortality may result.

Project Methods
1. Network Building and Information Dissemination We have established partnerships with interested non-profit organizations, government agencies, wildlife rehabilitators and veterinarians to expand the beached bird surveys throughout northern New England. 2. Beached Bird Surveys In collaboration with the Lloyd Center for Environmental Studies, the Massachusetts Audubon Society Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, Maine Audubon Society, NH Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program, and the NH Coastal Program, we initiated monthly beached bird surveys in the fall of 2002. We are drawing on an already established volunteer base active in beached sea turtle and marine mammal surveys, as well as attracting further participation from local birdwatchers, school science classes, and other interested citizens. Causes of death are determined when possible from x-rays, gross necropsy and histological analysis. Other pollutants (DDT/DDE, PCBs, etc.) will be determined pending further funding. We seek to determine correlations between results from cadaver testing and environmental contaminant data from the area in where birds are found. 3. Bycatch Recovery Large numbers of seabirds are caught and killed as bycatch by various marine fisheries operations. With the development of a standard pathology, cause of death could be more accurately determined, and the impacts of bycatch could be better assessed. We are working with the Northeast Regional Bycatch Coordinator of the National Marine Fisheries Service to train bycatch observers on fisheries vessels. 4. Atlantic Beached Bird Guide In collaboration with Bird Studies Canada and COASST, a field guide to Atlantic coast seabird species and their identification and recovery will be published. The guide will be used by beached bird survey volunteers and staff. We also plan to make a version of this field guide available on the internet. 5. Database and GIS Development We have been working to collect the most important data available, and process it to add to the GIS. Once data are in place and quality control (temporal and spatial accuracy) complete, we will maintain and further develop these databases in a linked system at the Wildlife Disease Information Node of the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) at the USGS and at the US EPA. In addition, a web-based strandings reporting system will be housed at NBII (in initial stages of development: http://wildlifedisease.nbii.gov/mapping/maps.html), allowing volunteers to enter data directly on the web for quick compilation of results. 6. Spatial Analyses Using spatial analyses and statistics, we will work to detect high mortality incidences, high prevalence of environmental factors (e.g., contaminants or harmful algal blooms), and where overlap exists. In this way, we will be able to spatially and temporally predict areas of highest risk or concern for seabirds, other marine animals, and humans. The GIS Manager at the Tufts GIS Center and the GIS Manager for Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management have agreed to assist with GIS development and analyses. Results will be made available online.

Progress 12/01/02 to 12/31/06

Outputs
Major findings from SEANET research projects include data from long-term beached bird survey, necropsy, mortality, and contaminants data. We have started to assess trends and discern the potential ecological implications of mortality events: plastic ingestion in shearwaters; marine debris entanglement and ingestion in a suite of species; lead and other shot found in a variety of species; fisheries bycatch incidence in the Gulf of Maine; levels of waterbird brain cholinesterase and chemical reactivation, indicative of organophosphate or carbamate pesticide exposure; low bone density, deformities, and mortality in terns after a major dietary shift (from mainly fish to mainly invertebrates); Salmonella outbreak 2 years in a row in the largest tern colony in MA; high levels of brevetoxin in bird organs in Florida and concentrations not previously reported, resulting from consumption of contaminated fish; invasive crabs on the U.S. Atlantic coast serving as intermediate hosts to acanthocephalan larvae, parasites that resulted in common eider mortality event in Nantucket Sound; high body burdens of newly emerging organic contaminants in the northern gannet. The value of regular beach monitoring was reinforced again when a small oil spill in Delaware Bay was observed off Sun Ray Beach in Del Haven, NJ, in April 2006. 19 lightly oiled birds (mainly gulls) were found during 5 days. No long-term evidence of oil on beaches or late-oiled birds has been found. Preliminary results indicate lower levels of chronic oiling in the U.S. than in Atlantic Canada. The U.S. has had a stricter system of fines than Canada, and SEANET data were used by groups in Canada who advocated for the passage of federal legislation, Bill C-15. This law went into force June 28, 2005, levying increased fines for the deliberate dumping of oily bilge waste at sea and increasing funding for surveillance and enforcement. With Bird Studies Canada, we held a volunteer training in Maine to connect the survey efforts in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia with those in the northeastern U.S. Our collaborator at Antioch New England finished a thesis documenting levels of fisheries bycatch over the past decade; this is the first long-term study in the Gulf of Maine. Our data has been requested to complement the analyses of population data of the Stellwagen Bank Biogeographic Assessment ocean resource. Impacts on policy occur on a long timescale. We started the loon mortality project over 18 years ago. Over the past few years, the sale and/or use of lead fishing gear has been banned in several New England states, and only now is legislation being considered in several other U.S. states and Canada. SEANET continues to document the incidence of lead shot and fishing gear in several waterbird species. Documenting plastic and marine debris ingestion and obstruction is as important as reporting illegal hunting to state wildlife agencies. Climate change, eutrophication, and invasive species may interact to increase levels of adult mortality in species such as eiders and can have dramatic consequences for populations of marine birds such as terns.

Impacts
Seabirds are particularly good indicators of marine environmental health, and also allow us to assess disease and contaminant threats to human health. Over the past 4 years, Tufts Center for Conservation Medicine (Tufts CCM) has successfully launched and expanded the Seabird Ecological Assessment Network (SEANET) to monitor the ecological health of the northeastern coastal corridor of North America. In the fall of 2003, we joined with Wildlife Trust, a Consortium for Conservation Medicine partner, to increase the geographic extent of SEANET throughout New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. The model initiated with SEANET has even expanded beyond our anticipated reach, with beached bird surveys using SEANET protocol in Georgia, Florida and North Carolina. The exciting growth of SEANET has strongly reinforced the importance of broadly-based collaborative educational and research efforts. We have compiled enough data to draw conclusions on several topics, generate peer-reviewed publications, and reach a larger audience. SEANET has gained a certain level of name recognition among researchers and agencies, that has helped raise the level of visibility of some of the critical issues facing our coastal/marine environment and the bird species it supports. SEANET has enabled us to efficiently gather and standardize large data sets, mobilize eager students and volunteers, approach several funding sources, and initiate an effort to protect the health of seabirds, their coastal habitats, and humans for years to come.

Publications

• No publications reported this period

Progress 01/01/05 to 12/31/05

Outputs
1. How effectively was SEANET able to disseminate its findings to the public, researchers, policy-makers, and human health agencies? We have given over 65 presentations at scientific meetings, universities, and high schools. SEANET has been featured by at least 25 different news media outlets. 2. Did participation of volunteers and member organizations increase? SEANET has grown into a collaboration of over 60 non-profit organizations, universities, and state and federal agencies. Volunteer participation has increased to over 300 volunteers and students. We organized a symposium involving researchers from six countries and eight states and provinces on beached bird surveys. 3. What did the results of spatial analysis of reported data indicate? We were able to pinpoint several large mortality incidents, and gain a better understanding of the geographic extent of the events. 4. What input was provided regarding the prioritization of management activity for particular species and regions? Based on Canadian research and SEANET data on thick-billed murre mortality, this species was added to a priority list for future conservation projects and funding. Canadian beached bird surveys have revealed a serious chronic oiling problem, with 60-75% of the birds found on beaches dying due to oil in the marine environment. Bill C-15 was recently introduced in Canada to levy stricter fines on polluters and provide more bilge waste reception facilities. Preliminary SEANET data showing a low oiling rate (2.5% or less) of beached birds on the Atlantic coast of the US was used in support of this bill in Canada. The Bouchard 120 Barge dumped about 98,000 gallons of oil in Buzzards Bay in 2003. Our data was used to prioritize particular wetlands in Buzzards Bay for acquisition using oil spill settlement funds, as well as to dictate some of the spending of funds from the highest fine ever levied in New England. 5. How well is the data of SEANET being combined with other coastal animal health initiatives involving, for example, sea mammals, fish, crabs, oysters and lobsters to reveal major patterns and possible causes of coastal health and illness? We wrote a joint proposal to investigate the incidence of parasites, contaminants, and pathogens that are shared by marine birds and mammals. We are involved in a partnership with different organizations to determine the causes and connections between tern mortality and seal mortality events. Horseshoe crabs are a vital food resource for shorebirds. Volunteers are encouraged to submit shorebird sightings. In NJ red knot declines have been linked to horseshoe crab declines in this region. We have entered and registered our metadata according to FDGC standards using the GeoConnections Discovery Portal, which will facilitate spatial data compilation across international boundaries. We are working with the Census of Marine Life to compile existing pelagic bird data and develop protocols for using ships of opportunity for seabird surveys. SEANET is one of the priority projects identified for the future in the draft North American Waterbird Conservation Plan.

Impacts
Over the past three years, Tufts Center for Conservation Medicine (Tufts CCM) has successfully launched and expanded the Seabird Ecological Assessment Network (SEANET) to monitor the ecological health of the northeastern coastal corridor of North America. In the fall of 2003, we joined with Wildlife Trust, a Consortium for Conservation Medicine partner, to increase the geographic extent of SEANET throughout New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. We involve citizen scientists and students in conducting beached bird surveys throughout the region in order to detect mortality events (such as disease outbreaks and oil spills) and to establish baseline data on coastal bird mortality. Seabirds are particularly good indicators of marine environmental health, and also allow us to assess disease and contaminant threats to human health.

Publications

• No publications reported this period

Progress 12/01/02 to 11/30/04

Outputs
Beached Bird Surveys: Over 300 volunteers are now regularly monitoring over 300 miles of beach in seven states from Delaware Bay throughout the Gulf of Maine for seabird mortality events. A total of 374 surveys covering 708.5 km were completed in 2002-2003. Many more surveys were completed in 2004. Public education (40 presentations) and media exposure (18 articles or radio features) is a key component of SEANET. A total of 151 carcasses from 34 species were encountered 2002-2003. Mortality / Gross Pathology Investigations: We have necropsied 343 birds of 35 species from wildlife rehabilitators, fisheries bycatch and beached bird surveys from 2002-2004. Preliminary results indicate certain causes of death that can be investigated more intensively (debris ingestion, entanglement, trauma, etc.). Oil Pollution: Chronic oiling appears to be less of a problem for birds in the northeastern US. Not including the over 479 birds found dead as a result of the oil spill in Buzzards Bay (April 2003), we found three possibly oiled birds (out of 151, 0.02% oiling rate). We can detect internal oiling, even when a bird shows no outward signs of oil. Mortality Incidents: We recorded an elevated level of red-throated loons, northern gannets, common Eiders, terns and gulls mortality. Seabird Population Trends: We developed a GIS of historical breeding waterbird population data for Massachusetts, and we will work with state and federal wildlife agencies to develop a region-wide GIS database of waterbird breeding data. Bycatch Mortality: 23 birds have been necropsied; 11 more necropsies are pending (primarily of greater shearwaters). Most of the birds caught were in good body condition; none of the birds necropsied have been considered emaciated, in contrast to 58% of beached birds and 44% of all birds necropsied in 2002-2003. The majority of birds showed signs of trauma, including broken bones and internal hemorrhage. Steel and Lead Shot / Trauma: We have noted the presence of pellets or shot in necropsied specimens. Specimens of 8 species had shot or pellets in their bodies. 43 percent of eiders examined and 17 percent of loons had been shot. Marine Debris / Plastics: We are investigating the incidence of plastic ingestion by Procellariiformes (tubenoses), particularly shearwaters. Birds as Indicators: We are testing liver and feather samples for heavy metals. This work is an extension of 17 years of data we have compiled on heavy metals in loons. Preliminary results indicate similar mercury levels in loon livers found on fresh and saltwater (55-62% of specimens tested had >10 ppm wet weight Hg), but lower lead levels found in saltwater. Harmful Algal Blooms / Marine Biotoxins: So far 17 northern gannet, 6 red-throated loon, 2 common eider, 5 common tern and 1 roseate tern liver and/or gastrointestinal content samples have been tested for domoic acid and saxitoxin, without positive results. For freshwater species, microcystins have been isolated from birds with a condition called steatites. In summer of 2004 we found what is likely to be the first reported case of a common loon with steatitis as well as a black-crowned night heron with the condition.

Impacts
SEANET has recruited and trained over 300 volunteers who are now regularly monitoring more than 300 miles of beach in seven states from Delaware Bay to the Gulf of Maine for seabird mortality. Since the first volunteers in MA started walking beaches in the fall of 2002, we have held 18 volunteer trainings, in addition to more frequent waterbird identification sessions, beach walks, volunteer updates, and individual volunteer recruitment and training by collaborators. A total of 374 surveys covering 440 miles were completed in 2002-2003 and 151 carcasses were encountered by volunteers during this time. Preliminary data indicate some seasonal deposition patterns that reflect different species abundance in the area at different times of the year, with gulls, loons, and sea ducks as the most common types of birds encountered. Over a dozen veterinary students have been trained in gross necropsy techniques, and our veterinarians and students have necropsied 343 birds of 35 species from wildlife rehabilitators, fisheries bycatch, and beached bird surveys from 2002-2004. We are investigating numerous threats to birds such as harmful algal blooms, disease, oil pollution, heavy metals, entanglement and marine debris ingestion. Our volunteers have provided important damage assessment data during two major oil spills since the start of this project, as well as monitoring for levels of chronic oiling. Over the past two years we have given more than 60 public presentations and have joined with over 50 collaborating organizations to expand the reach of this citizen science project.

Publications

• Pierce, K.E., R.J. Harris, L.S. Larned, and M.A. Pokras. 2005 (in Press). Obstruction and starvation associated with plastic ingestion in a northern gannet (Sula bassanus) and a greater shearwater (Puffinus gravis). Marine Ornithology.
• Harris, R.J. 2003. Seabird Ecological Assessment Network (SEANET): A citizen scientist initiative for marine ecosystem health. Conservation Perspectives: an e-publication of the New England Society for Conservation Biology v 2. Summer.