
Foraging ecology
Research questions
Where do seabirds go to find food?
What's the ocean like there?
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Where did this White Tern get this fish?
To answer these questions, I use a combination of scientific tools.
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GPS tracking tags tell us where the birds travel.
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Remotely sensed environmental variables like chlorophyll and sea surface temperature tell us what the ocean was like when the bird visited different areas.
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Chemical signatures, like carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes, tell us about the birds' diets.

GPS tracking tag
GPS tracking data

Chlorophyll concentrations

Related publications
Gilmour, M.E., J.L. Lavers, C. Lamborg, O. Chastel, S.A. Kania, S.A. Shaffer. 2019. Mercury as an indicator of foraging ecology but not the breeding hormone prolactin in seabirds. Ecological Indicators 103:248-259. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2019.04.016