Population numbers at sea

Populations on the open sea are monitored from ships. When the coverage is approximately the same from year to year, we can estimate the number of birds and examine how abundance and distribution change over time.

Are the seabird communities changing?

SEAPOP has joined the ecosystem research cruises in the Barents Sea every year since 2004, and we use the data from these cruises to answer how the seabird communities on the open sea change with rising temperatures and diminishing ice cover. Are Brünnich’s guillemots and little auks (both are arctic species) being replaced by Atlantic puffins and common guillemots (more southern species)? And what do the changes in populations of important prey species such as polar cod, capelin and herring have to say for the changes we see in the seabird communities?

Maps and data

Search for maps and data on the population trends of seabirds on the open sea in our data portal!