Ocean Sentry
Fishing can have devastating effects on seabirds. Not only do they get snagged on hooks and tangled in nets, but chronic overfishing can deprive the birds of their prey—the same small fish that boats are catching. Now a study has identified what appears to be a universal threshold for danger: …
December, 2011
November, 2011
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30 November
Changing fish diet killing baby birds, say Maine researchers
An increase in emaciated and dying baby seabirds seems to indicate that something is different in the Gulf of Maine. The cause is difficult to pinpoint, but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is concerned after numerous terns this summer accidentally starved their young.In a typical year, about half the …
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28 November
Endangered Species Act protection sought for Emperor Penguins
The Center for Biological Diversity filed a legal petition today seeking Endangered Species Act protection for emperor penguins threatened by global warming. Emperors are the most ice-dependent of all penguin species, threatened by the loss of their sea-ice habitat as well as declining food availability wrought by the warming ocean …
October, 2011
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21 October
BP spill posed bigger risk to seabirds than believed: researchers
Last year”s massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico put at risk a much larger portion of a far-ranging northern seabird population than previously thought, according to new Canadian research. A study released Thursday by researchers at Memorial University in Newfoundland concludes that almost a quarter of North America”s …
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20 October
New Zealand penguins in need of sweaters
A yarn store in New Zealand is making an unusual request that is pulling at the heart-strings of the world—they are asking people to sew knit sweaters for penguins affected by the country’s oil spill. The “penguin jumpers” are intended to keep the birds warm until they are well enough …
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17 October
New Zealand oil disaster kills over 1200 birds to date
According to the New Zealand government an oil spill from a grounded container ship in the Bay of Plenty has killed 1,250 seabirds with hundreds of others in rescue centers. However, conservationists say the avian death-toll is far higher with most contaminated birds simply vanishing in the sea. “The number …
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12 October
Seabirds ‘overwhelmed’ by Rena’s oil
Papamoa Beach residents woke this morning to the nightmare they’d been warned of – thick layers of oil coating the coastline. Along with the oil, the high tide brought ashore dozens of dead seabirds that volunteers have spent the day cleaning up. Wildlife experts expect to have collected around 500 …
September, 2011
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27 September
Fishing boats ‘killing up to 320,000 seabirds a year’
Report says some albatross, petrel and shearwater species nearing extinction as fleets failing to implement simple measures Up to 320,000 seabirds a year are being killed worldwide each year by being caught up in fishing lines, according to a study being presented to the World Conference on Marine Biodiversity on …
August, 2011
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31 August
Fishing gear is blamed in record pelican injuries in Northern California
A record number of California brown pelicans have been injured this summer – mostly by fishing gear, the nonprofit International Bird Rescue reports. The group, with a treatment center in Fairfield, reports taking in 221 brown pelicans since June 1, mostly from Santa Cruz and Monterey. About 75 percent were …
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21 August
Drilling sites ‘threat to seabirds’
Important wildlife sites for seabirds such as puffins could be hit if an oil spill occurred in areas being considered for new fossil fuel exploration off the UK coast, conservationists warned. Following the Shell oil spill, which saw more than 200 tonnes of oil leak into the North Sea in …
July, 2011
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24 July
Shore birds dying on fishers’ hooks
Shorebird species in the Hauraki Gulf and around New Zealand are being pushed to the edge of extinction as they are caught in fishing lines and nets. A Ministry of Fisheries report says population decline in as many as 21 separate species may be affecting their ability to reach sustainable …
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20 July
Cleanup aims to save 10,000 birds each year
Work will begin on Midway Atoll next month to remove lead-based paint that dooms 10,000 Laysan albatross chicks each year to a heartbreaking and apparently painful death. “It”s awful and horrifically tragic to see them die,”said Myra Finklestein, an assistant researcher at the University of California at Santa Cruz who …