SEAPOP

SEAPOP

About seabirds – for a richer ocean

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SEAPOPAbout SEAPOPNews
Adult European shag. Photo © Nina Dehnhard

How to predict the foraging habitat of European shags

May 16, 2022

This study presents a new approach to a better management of sea areas that are of crucial importance to one of our most characteristic seabirds.

Offshore wind farm. Photo © Signe Christensen-Dalsgaard.

Large research project focuses on the effects of blue growth on seabirds

April 28, 2022

SEAPOP and SEATRACK contribute with data.

Black-legged kittiwakes on ice floe. Photo © Hurtigruten Expeditions

Loss of sea ice affects Arctic seabirds

March 2, 2022

The connection lies in the food chain.

Atlantic puffin with sandeel. Photo © Tycho Anker-Nilssen.

Changes in ocean temperatures contribute to a puffin population decline

February 16, 2022

How do seabirds find enough food to survive the darkness of winter? This is the question Børge Moe and his colleagues asked themselves in a study on European shags in the North Atlantic Ocean.

Stranded common guillemots. Photo © KJELL ISAKSEN

Auk wreck last autumn struck mainly young common guillemots

February 2, 2022

In 2021, dead common guillemots on the beaches of several European countries again attracted attention. International collaboration now yields clear indications as to what the birds died from.

European shag with a capelin. Photo © John Anderson

Chase the sun or catch prey in twilight?

January 26, 2022

How do seabirds find enough food to survive the darkness of winter? This is the question Børge Moe and his colleagues asked themselves in a study on European shags in the North Atlantic Ocean.

Little auk with GLS. Photo © Jérôme Fort

Mercury contamination in individual seabirds varies with wintering area

January 7, 2022

A large study combined tracking of seabird migration with measurement of environmental toxins.

Illustration: Tycho Anker-Nilssen

Christmas greetings from SEAPOP

December 23, 2021

Brünnich's guillemot colony on Spitsbergen. Photo © Malin Kjelstadli Johansen

Variation in Brünnich’s guillemot population trends explained in recent study

December 16, 2021

Demography data from SEAPOP key sites contribute to a wider understanding of the variation in “vital rates”.

Konseptskisse om sjøfuglers habitatbruk i hekketiden. Illustrasjon © Tycho Anker-Nilssen.

SEAPOP’s work on GPS tracking is presented on new web page

December 10, 2021

We present an overview of where and for which species we are collecting GPS data.

Fieldwork at Bjørnøya, Svalbard. Photo © Malin Kjellstadli Johansen

Successful SEATRACK webinar

November 30, 2021

The recorded talks from the SEATRACK webinar are now available online.

Common guillemots on Hornøya. Photo © Tone Kristin Reiertsen

The common guillemot can keep track of day and night even under the midnight sun

November 11, 2021

Hormones help the common guillemot keep time during the continuous light of polar day in summer.

Black-legged kittiwake with GLS. Photo © Morten Ekker

Theme Section devoted to SEATRACK recently published in Marine Ecology Progress Series

October 25, 2021

- A huge amount of work over years, with concepts and information that has come out that would have been unthinkable just a short time ago, says inventor of the geolocator.

Common guillemots at sea. Photo © Geir Helge Systad, NINA

Important seabird protection area established in the North Atlantic

October 18, 2021

SEAPOP and SEATRACK have contributed significantly.

Gannet and guillemot colony. Photo © Vidar Bakken/Hallvard Strøm

Global warming alters the seabird community on Svalbard

September 23, 2021

Seabirds adapted to a warmer climate replace the Arctic species, according to a new article in Ecology.

Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica). Photo © Erlend Lorentzen

Whole-genome analyses disclose Atlantic puffin population structure

September 2, 2021

Results challenge current taxonomy.

Great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis). Photo © Nina Dehnhard

Great cormorants and humans compete for wrasse, but not gadids

August 23, 2021

Analyses of great cormorant diets reveal how much and which fish species and size Norwegian cormorants consume.

Adult ivory gull with leg bands. Photo © Vegard Bang Fjeldheim

More ivory gulls in Svalbard than previously estimated, but population trends are negative

July 12, 2021

Recent surveys show that the population of ivory gulls in Svalbard is larger than previously assumed, but long-time monitoring of selected colonies reveals a negative population trend.

Measuring head size in Atlantic puffins at Anda. Photo © Magdalene Langset

2020 – the worst breeding season ever for Norwegian seabirds

July 2, 2021

SEAPOP’s summary of the seabird monitoring in 2020 is a cause of growing concern for Norwegian seabird populations.

Adult razorbill. Photo © Tycho Anker-Nilssen

Seabirds ring the alarm

June 7, 2021

The ongoing decrease in seabird breeding success signals the need for management actions to protect the marine ecosystems and reduce the effect of climate change.

Puffin with herring larvae. Photo © Tycho Anker-Nilssen

Seabirds consume higher proportions of fish stocks when prey abundance is low

April 8, 2021

This study signals the need for fisheries management to account for ecosystem constraints when setting catch limits in periods of low forage fish biomass.

Puffin with haddock. Photo © Tycho Anker-Nilssen

GPS-tracking of chick-rearing puffins reveals causes of population decline

March 26, 2021

Reduced availability of key prey forces adult puffins to fly further from their colonies to find food. Meanwhile, their chicks starve at the nests.

The SEAPOP web site is being moved

March 1, 2021

Apologies for unexpected time offline while moving to a new server.

Little auk studies improve our insight into the pathways and spreading of methylmercury

January 13, 2021

Tracking little auks outside the breeding season provides new knowledge about sources and pathways of mercury in nature.

Feathers reveal mercury contamination in alcids in the Arctic

December 3, 2020

More than a quarter of the individual auks in which mercury levels were measured outside the breeding season exceeded the toxicity threshold.  

Kittiwakes find refuge on offshore oil rigs

November 19, 2020

Why is their chick production superior to that of kittiwakes breeding on land?

Seabird experts in CAFF propose a new kittiwake conservation plan

November 3, 2020

A presentation of initiatives to protect all kittiwake populations in the Arctic.

Seabirds and kelp harvest – conflict or harmony?

September 18, 2020

Foraging shags and commercial kelp harvesters very often utilize the same marine areas.

Seabird bycatch in lumpsucker fisheries can pose a threat to vulnerable populations

September 3, 2020

A study reveals comprehensive seabird bycatch in lumpsucker gillnets, but also large differences between Denmark, Iceland and Norway in the number of birds caught per fishing trip.

The SEAPOP key-site report is out

June 26, 2020

Yet another alarming year for Norwegian seabirds: nearly half of the populations declined since 2018, and one third produced poorly.

Arctic sea ice melting may overturn seabird migration strategies

February 27, 2020

Little auks crossing the ice-free Arctic will reduce migration costs by half compared to following their current migration paths across the North Atlantic.

Acute incidents seriously threaten seabird populations already under pressure

February 13, 2020

Seabirds that are already under pressure because of climatic change become more vulnerable when exposed to additional man-made incidents leading to acute population declines.

Common eiders are scared by boats

January 17, 2020

The disturbance effect of recreational boat driving may be considerable for moulting eiders.

Happy New Year!

January 6, 2020

Puffins and razorbills choose different strategies in harsh winter conditions

December 25, 2019

Puffins change their diet while razorbills seek out new foraging areas.

Arrival at breeding sites is advancing among common and Brünnich’s guillemots

December 11, 2019

Time spent in the colony prior to egg-laying is increasing for both common and Brünnich’s guillemots.

Foraging behaviour in black-legged kittiwakes is predicted by personality

November 29, 2019

More specialized foraging behaviour in bold black-legged kittiwakes.

Workshop on plastic in seabirds

November 21, 2019

Large amounts of plastic are adrift in the sea. Most of it is microplastic, some of which often ends up in seabird stomachs. A group of researchers met in Tromsø recently to discuss how to best monitor the amounts of plastic in birds. According to their report from the workshop, samples of regurgitation and faeces will be of interest if such monitoring were to be implemented.

Successful SEATRACK workshop

November 18, 2019

Gathered 35 participants from about 30 different institutions around the North Atlantic.

Winter extratropical cyclones cause reduced eider survival

November 6, 2019

An increase in extreme weather events is probably bad news for common eiders.

Arctic seabirds respond differently to an earlier spring

October 23, 2019

Some arctic seabirds start their breeding season earlier now than they did 35 years ago.

Nesting European shags profit from readily accessible shoals of saithe.

September 30, 2019

Strong relations between breeding success, foraging behaviour and choice of prey among European shags.

Tourism and traffic near the breeding sites reduce seabird breeding success

September 10, 2019

According to a study from Hornøya, the effect varies among species.

The 2019 SEAPOP seminar is postponed

September 5, 2019

New dates in March 2020.

Well-timed hatching may increase chick survival rates

July 31, 2019

Synchronous hatching in seabird colonies increases the defensive power against specialized predators.

PhD on seabird migration patterns based on SEATRACK data

July 19, 2019

- With young scientists like Benjamin on the team, the future looks bright for seabird research.

Report from SEAPOP’s key sites in 2018

July 2, 2019

Presenting detailed estimates of the most important monitoring parameters from 14 locations.

Will scare seabirds from drowning

May 10, 2019

A new study reveals that between 4 000 and 8 000 seabirds probably drown each year in connection with the coastal gillnet-fisheries in Norway. Researchers suggest scaring the birds as a possible measure for reducing the number of deaths.

SEATRACK moves into a second phase

March 15, 2019

SEATRACK plans to include new colonies and to deploy GLS-loggers on juvenile birds to deliver data of even higher accuracy and quality.

The SEATRACK web app has been updated

February 25, 2019

Loggerdata from 2018 have been added to the SEATRACK web app.

New method for mapping the swimming migration in auks

February 6, 2019

An example of how data from geolocators can be used even when light conditions are too poor to calculate positions.

SEAPOP web site now in English

January 24, 2019

And you can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

First estimates of body mass change between the breeding and wintering stages in Atlantic Puffins

January 7, 2019

Presents critical information for improving predictions of the effects of extreme weather events on the species.

The concentration of contaminants in great skuas is determined mainly by choice of prey

December 4, 2018

New research reveals that diet specialization in Arctic seabirds is more important for exposure to contaminants than wintering area or long-range transport.

Climate change threatens the kittiwake – extreme weather and altered prey availability reduce recruitment

October 10, 2018

Bad weather is bad news, also for the red-listed kittiwake. New research reveals that wind conditions combined with the availability of different prey species are determinants of chick production in this seabird.

A warmer ocean is bad news for eiders

September 26, 2018

Higher ocean temperatures in the north are not good for everyone. For common eiders, the warming causes decreasing populations.

Light loggers and stable isotopes contribute to identify moult locations

July 23, 2018

Light loggers used in combination with stable isotopes help us determine when and where moulting takes place.

Standardization and facilitation of seabird data for use in impact and environmental risk assessments

July 2, 2018

A new NINA report gives recommendation on how seabird data should best be used in impact and environmental risk assessments.

Surprising prey capture technique by little auk

June 17, 2018

A new study gives a visual insight into the little auks foraging behaviour.

Report from SEAPOPs key-sites in 2017

May 30, 2018

This year’s report from SEAPOP’s key-sites gives an overview of the 2017 breeding season.

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This is SEAPOP

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Maps and data

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Executive institutions

Norwegian institute for nature research

Norwegian Polar Institute

Design and development: Gnist Design

  • Home
  • Activities and scope
    • Mapping
      • Coastal populations
      • Populations at sea
      • Migrations and habitat use
    • Population sizes
    • Monitoring
      • Population development
        • Breeding populations
        • Winter poulations
        • Populations at sea
      • Reproduction
      • Survival
      • Diet
      • Phenology
    • Methods
      • Mapping along the coast
      • Mapping at sea
        • Study areas
        • Data analysis
      • Mapping migration and habitat use
      • Methods for calculating population sizes
      • Monitoring
    • Species
    • Key sites
    • Causal research
  • Distribution and status
    • Distribution
      • Breeding populations
      • Non-breeding populations
      • Seabirds at sea
    • Time series data
      • Population development
      • Reproduction
      • Survival
      • Diet
      • Phenology
  • SEATRACK
    • Publications
    • About SEATRACK
  • Publications
    • SEAPOP reports etc.
    • Other publications
  • About SEAPOP
    • Executive institutions and Science Group
    • Economic contributors and Steering Committee
    • Other contributors
    • Contact us
    • News
  • Norsk