Ruth Dunn

ShoalBase | Join, Explore, Contribute Now ShoalBase offers a global database on fish social behaviour, supporting research, conservation, and ecology through community contributions and visual data mapping.

🧵1/9 There are 35,000+ fish species, but we have formal social-behaviour classifications for a tiny fraction. Most knowledge lives in the experience of researchers, fishers, divers, aquarists, naturalists, and Indigenous communities, but almost none of it is centralised. So we built ShoalBase.org.

Nominations for #WSC4 Keynote Speakers are open! ✨🌊

Early-career voices encouraged!
📍WSC4 In-person & Hybrid: 7–11 Sept 2026, Hobart, Tasmania

🔗 bit.ly/3Jv71c9
#seabirds #ornithology

Spatial overlap alone downplays the level of interaction between a central place forager and the local fishery While spatial overlap is commonly used to quantify interactions, it may underestimate the true degree of competition between foraging predators and fishing vessels. Our alternative population-level m...

My first PhD paper is now out! We calculate overlap intensity between African penguins and the local purse seine fishery 🐧🐟

Check it out in @jappliedecology.bsky.social
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

✈️ WSC4 Travel Awards are here!
Supporting students, early-career researchers & conservation practitioners to attend the 4th World Seabird Conference.

📅 Apply 1 Oct 2025 – 15 Jan 2026
More info on the Registration page.

🔗https://bit.ly/4nAYG4j

#WSC4 #Seabirds #Research

NEW PAPER in #ornithology summarizes why #seabirds are so important to the ecosystem of #islands and what knowledge gaps remain: buff.ly/rHuNnOr

©️Photo by Quentin d’Orchymont

New paper by @entropie-marinelab.bsky.social and @iomarinescience.bsky.social is out! 🐦🌊

#Genomics uncovers striking genetic #differentiation and taxonomic uncertainties in a tropical #seabird across the Western Indian Ocean. 🧬

Learn more 👉 doi.org/10.1111/ddi....

Global study reveals seabirds as critical connectors between islands, the ocean and people - Lancaster University A new global synthesis published today in Nature Reviews Biodiversity reveals how seabirds act as powerful connectors between marine and terrestrial ecosystems and why protecting seabirds is a powerful opportunity when tackling the triple crises of climate change, failing ocean health, and biodivers...

Seabirds act as powerful connectors between marine and terrestrial ecosystems - and protecting them can help tackle the crises of climate change, failing ocean health, and biodiversity loss, according to a new study published in Nature Reviews Biodiversity 🐦

The circular seabird economy is critical for oceans, islands and people Nature Reviews Biodiversity - Seabirds are top predators and nutrient cyclers in marine island ecosystems, but are threatened by risk of extinction. This Review explores the circular seabird...

Here's a link for anyone who doesn't have access: rdcu.be/eMOUd

Schematic diagram of the influence of seabirds on temperate and tropical near-shore marine systems. Temperatre systems: - Nutrient enrichment and predation on herbivorous invertebrates can lead to increased algal production - Phytoplankton communities change, featuring more large-celled species - Intertidal organisms incorporate seabird-enriched material by grazing on detritus and biofilm in tidepools - Macroalgae biodiversity and primary production are boosted Tropical systems: - Mangrove leaf nutritional quality increases - Corals recover faster after bleaching events - Fish biomass increases across different trophic groups - Pelagic and benthic consumers' foraging behaviour shifts - Parrotfish grazing and bioerosion rates increase - Fish grow larger

New in @natrevbiodiv.nature.com: our review of the influence of #seabirds, via their nutrient transfer, on islands & adjacent marine ecosystems 🐦🏝️🪸

We highlight knowledge gaps & future directions ✨

"The circular seabird economy is critical for oceans, islands and people": doi.org/10.1038/s443...

Indian women used to be afraid of the ocean. Now, they’re turning into its strongest defenders Along India’s coastline, a rising wave of women is healing our oceans, moving beyond the margins of shore-bound roles traditionally ascribed to them

@ruchakarkarey.bsky.social is in Vogue India! Great article about India's women marine defenders www.vogue.in/content/once...

Temporal Variation in Early-Life Conditions Impacts on Later-Life Levels of Infection in Sex Specific Ways | doi.org/10.1002/ece3... | Ecology and Evolution | #ornithology 🪶

Title and author list for the synthesis paper titled "Understanding and Predicting Population Response to Anthropogenic Disturbance: Current Approaches and Novel Opportunities" published in Ecology Letters.

The latest paper from the DISCAR synthesis group is out at Ecology Letters! We discuss the key approaches to predicting human impacts on wildlife populations, highlighting avenues for incorporating indirect effects, such as energetic modelling. doi.org/10.1111/ele....

A simple landscape illustration with a grey-green ocean, a dark grey rocky islet partly covered by orange lichen and a light grey overcast sky. On and around the islet are seabirds of several species, most pictured realistically in colour. The largest bird is a now-extinct great auk, depicted as a semi-translucent white ghost figure.

#SciArtSeptember 1: Islet

Somewhere in the waves of Barents Sea, a rocky islet acts as a perch for seabirds. Puffins, guillemots, razorbills and skuas are still here, though threatened by heating oceans and spreading disease. With them sits a lonely ghost of a great auk that once roamed these seas.

Ride On Board A Red-Footed Booby As It Catches Flying Fish Above The Indian Ocean Bird-borne cameras revealed that boobies might catch more fish in the air than in the sea.

Bird-borne cameras revealed that boobies might catch more fish in the air than in the sea.

www.iflscience.com/ride-on-boar...

These Majestic Seabirds Never Stop Pooping

You know this story is going to be a good time because my editor told me the first draft had too many instances of the word "poop" www.nytimes.com/2025/08/18/s... 🧪 (featuring Leo Uesaka, @ruthedunn.bsky.social‬ and @movementecology.bsky.social)

This Superpooper Seabird Is Amazing Scientists The first detailed observation of the bathroom habits of Streaked Shearwaters at sea leave scientists with a surprising load of questions

I have a real shitshow of a science story here for all my friends: 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/article/thes...

Large marine protected areas can encompass movements of diverse megafauna Our results provide clear evidence for the value of the large scale of the Chagos Archipelago very large marine protected area (VLMPA) for protection of taxonomically diverse mobile megafauna. Furthe....

Hello people. Today in “One day, one paper”, The Chagos Archipelago Marine Protected Area MPA (640,000 km²) covers >99% of manta, hawksbill turtle, and seabird movements. Its large scale highlights the value of safeguarding diverse megafauna and achieving global ocean conservation targets 🌎

Homing navigation is optimized to diurnal constraints in a tropical seabird, the red-footed booby | doi.org/10.1016/j.an... | Animal Behaviour | #ornithology 🪶

A graphical abstract depicting the paper title, author list, and brief description of the paper. One images displays an adult common gullemot with one logger on each leg, next to a chick. The second image displays a close-up of a common guillemot's legs with both loggers shown. The text reads: An improved method to derive behavioural budgets and energetics from geolocator data in Common Guillemots Uria aalge Lila Buckingham, Maria Bogdanova, Francis Daunt, Robert Furness, Sophie Bennett, Ruth Dunn, David Jardine, Mark Newell, Ewan Weston & Jonathan Green We deployed two devices (time-depth recorder & geolocator) on 39 Common Guillemots for one non-breeding season. We allocated time to behaviours using 1) both devices (see Buckingham et al. 2023) and 2) only geolocators, following previous methods. We compared the behavioural budgets. We could not extract foraging behaviour (diving) when only using geolocator data. We devised an improved method for estimating behaviours and energetics in Common Guillemots using geolocator data. We also provide guidance for studies of other diving seabirds that rest at sea. Photos by Andrew Carter Seabird 37 (2025) Early Release

Do you use geolocators to estimate foraging time, behaviour, or energetics in diving seabirds? See our new paper for insights from a study of Common Guillemots.

doi.org/10.61350/sbj...

@theseabirdgroup.bsky.social

Thank you, Sal! 🤩

Tropical birds filmed catching flying fish mid-air for first time ever | Discover Wildlife When researchers fitted tiny cameras to the backs of red-footed boobies, they got an intimate view of exactly how these acrobatic seabirds hunt.

“When researchers fitted tiny cameras to the backs of two Red-footed Boobies, they got an intimate view of exactly how these acrobatic #seabirds hunt.”

Press release and link to open access paper here:
www.hw.ac.uk/news/2025/on...

www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts...

Photos of a reef manta ray, red-footed booby, and a hawsbill turtles with biologging devices attached to them. The journal logo is also featured, alongside the article title and author list. Some text reads: "Tracking data reveal that very large marine protected areas offer protection for mobile marine megafauna including benthic foragers (turtles), pelagic planktivores (manta ray), and oceanic predators (seabirds)".

New research led by @alicetrevail.bsky.social combines tracking data to show the value of large marine protected areas in encompassing diverse megafauna movements 🐢

doi.org/10.1111/1365...

@jappliedecology.bsky.social @iomarinescience.bsky.social @exetermarine.bsky.social @zslofficial.bsky.social

Nice little thread on some of our recent red-footed booby work 💨👇

Using lightweight bird-borne cameras, scientists have captured unique footage of Indian Ocean seabirds speeding just above the waves to catch flying fish.

Dr Ruth Dunn (@ruthedunn.bsky.social) of @lec-reefs.bsky.social is lead author of the study.

📰: https://tinyurl.com/yezeyxu2

Composite image of the Proceedings B journal title, the manuscript title and the author list, alongside an image of a red-footed booby flying amongst palm trees. Some text reads: "Winds shape the behavioural decisions of red-footed boobies, impacting their foraging commutes and feeding behaviour".

"Commuting in crosswinds and foraging in fast winds: the foraging ecology of a flying fish specialist" 💨🐦🐟

New @iomarinescience.bsky.social research out now in @royalsocietypublishing.org: doi.org/10.1098/rspb...

📸 @robinfreeman.bsky.social

🧪🌍🪶

New paper out in Proceedings B! 🔊

Seabirds' impacts on reefs extends even to some of its tiniest inhabitants - cryptobenthic reef fishes 🐠
Near colonies, these fishes assimilate seabird nutrients (💩), grow larger 📈 & more at: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

@royalsocietypublishing.org

Our Indian Ocean marine science programme supports established researchers and has a major focus on training the next generation of ocean scientists. A big congratulations to all our recent PhD Graduates for 2024!

#PhDGraduates #Doctor #MarineScience #MarineBiology #Scientists

Our Special Feature with @aer-ese-bes.bsky.social is now available to read! 🌎🧪

This collection aims to combine the latest insights and provide an integrated road map for ecologically optimal decisions on the energy transition 🛰️

Check it out 👇
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/hub/global-e...

New paper lead by @etspencer.bsky.social We use biologging to understand why great hammerheads may specialize on large prey like other sharks. If they hunt blacktips off south Florida then they probably only have to catch a shark once per month link.springer.com/journal/442

Yay, well done!! 🦈