Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

Oceanic seabirds are the most wide-ranging animals on earth. They are top predators that spend most of their lives at sea. Moving over both regional and very large ocean scales, seabirds sample a wide swath of ocean habitat and are excellent bio-indicators for the health and status of marine ecosystems. Their associations with ocean features can be hugely informative about ecosystem processes in remote marine habitats where biological research is difficult.This knowledge is critical for developing better understanding, protection and management of marine animals and ecosystems in the face of rapid and profound change. Trans-equatorial migrant seabirds breed in one hemisphere and migrate to and winter in another, exhibiting the greatest use of whole ocean habitat. During summer the seabird community of eastern Canada is dominated by migrant shearwaters that breed in the Southern Hemisphere. The proposed research wil investigate how Southern Hemisphere shearwaters move about and use ocean habitat in Atlantic Canada. To do this, small bird-borne satellite tags will be attached to shearwaters captured in the coastal waters of Newfoundland. The birds will be tracked to determine areas of occupancy and habitat use in eastern Canadian waters. This research will also determine their movement chronology in the region and the timing and routes of their return migration to breeding colonies in the South Atlantic Ocean and how marine weather systems affect their movments. These studies will inform us about areas of aggreagation [ocean "hotspots"], migration ecology and population connections over regional and ocean-basin scales. Knowledge of how seabirds move and exploit resources throughout the ocean will aid in understanding their habitat requirements and their responses to ocean climate change. This research is valuable for Canada because it will lead to comprehensive understanding of how marine animal use jurisdictional waters and hence how to protect them and the ecosystems that they and we depend on.