Dr A.M.T. Labbé

Massive wreck of #puffins #seabirds in France, Spain and Portugal after successive storms (same period as the 2014 event)
All age classes founded: 1st winter, immature and adults

Recent trend reversal for declining European seagrass meadows - Nature Communications Seagrass meadows are important but one of the most threatened ecosystems globally. Here the authors analyse data about extent and density of seagrasses in Europe from 1869 to 2016, and find evidence of recent trend reversal for declining European seagrass meadows.

After some research, from 1869 to 2016, one third of European #seagrass area was lost due to disease, deteriorated water quality, and coastal development
The highest decline was the 1970s and 1980s
#GES4SEAS #MOOC #oceanoptimism
#MarineEcology #Research
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-11340-4

How has HPAI affected population level declines? In 2023/23 resulted in drastic decrease in adult survival, a driver of dynamics in long lived seabirds. Resilience analysis revealed HPAI outbreaks couls cause long lasting demographic impacts.
👉 besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

On the Falkland Islands Rockhopper penguins often nest with Imperial Shags intermingling closely nests side by side in places. On Sea Lion Island there is a mixed colony like this at the top of a steep and forbidding cliff with a gully that the waves crash into with ferocity. A few years ago a freak wave came over the top of the cliff and all but wiped out the imperial shag's nests and chicks there. The next year very few returned and the penguin colony dwindled as well to try and encourage their return the Island managers placed concrete models in the stones on the top of the cliffs to try and attract the birds - the plan, or just nature, has worked and although the colony is still not as big as it was once it has increased in number each year since - there were a good number of shag nests just out of shot. Photo of an adult rockhopper penguin, standing on rocks, showing the characteristic white front, black head face and neck with yellow eyebrows and black and yellow head tuft feathers. On one side is a half reclining brown fluffy chick and on the other a concrete model of a sitting Imperial Shag.

Rockhopper and chick next to.... hang on, is that a petrified shag???
Story in Alt
Sea Lion Island #FalklandIslands Jan 2026
200mm f9 1:1000 ISO800

#BirdOfTheDay #OddCouples #birds #EastCoastKin #penguin #Twosday #Wildlife #ArtYear #Travel

Dr Beth Cookson , Delegate to WOAH and Chief Veterinary Officer of Australia, informed WOAH that a simulation
exercise, Parks Australia ANBG1, on #H5N1 high pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) will be conducted in Canberra, ACT, on 20 February 2026.

www.woah.org/app/uploads/...

The white-backed swallow survives the extreme temperatures of inland Australia by reducing its body temperature to save energy.

👉 Read the full story: theconversation.com/tiny-ra...

Estimating waterfowl breeding pair and brood densities using distance sampling with uncrewed aerial systems Uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) equipped with thermal cameras are increasingly being used in wildlife research. Here, we explore the use of UAS paired with distance sampling to detect and estimate dens...

#ornithology
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Energetics link long‐term environmental variations to breeding success in a wild penguin population Using a unique 25-year dataset, we uncover how environmental changes scale up from individual to population responses. We show that sea ice drives individual energetics, while parental foraging effor...

!📃New paper📃!
My 2nd PhD paper is out in @animalecology.bsky.social ky.social !
Using a unique 25-year #biologging and population monitoring🐧 dataset , we uncover how environmental changes 🧊 scale up from individual to population responses.
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
#move

2025 was an exceptional year for the Earth's climate
⬆️ Warmest ocean heat content
⬆️ Tied as second warmest surface temps
⬆️ Second warmest troposphere
⬆️ Record high sea level and GHGs
⬇️ Record low winter Arctic ice

New State of the Climate over at Carbon Brief: www.carbonbrief.org/...

WSC4 Abstract Submissions – Now Open

Abstract submissions for WSC4 are currently open and have been extended until 23 January 2026 (23:59 UTC-12).

Submitting an abstract is easy via our Abstract Portal.
Check out our website for full guidelines and submission details.

🔗 bit.ly/4qRZd44

#WSC4

Abstract submission has been extended until 23rd January 📣

Good luck to all those applying!

Last years field assistant holding a Manx Shearwater on the isle of Rum (under a towel), retrieving a GPS device after a bird has returned from a foraging trip!

We are looking to hire a Seabird Field Assistant for 2026 for our Manx Shearwater research project.

Please share this to anyone who'd like to get out in the field this summer and learn about biotelemetry, bird handling and research into animal behaviour.

drive.google.com/file/d/1SGZt...

Moonrise last night, from the heli deck of RSV Nuyina at Heard Island #subantarctic #MarineScience 🧪🧬

𝐒𝐰𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐲 𝐎𝐰𝐥. 💔

For the first time in 20 years, a bird species has disappeared from the country.

Hundreds of iceberg earthquakes detected at the crumbling end of Antarctica’s Doomsday Glacier The seismic echoes of capsizing icebergs falling from Thwaites Glacier have been detected for the first time.

Iceberg earthquakes in #Antarctica 2/3rds detected at Doomsday glacier – 245 out of 362 – were located near the marine end of Thwaites. Most of these events are likely glacial earthquakes due to capsizing icebergs.

Same 🥲🫠

Influential study on glyphosate safety retracted 25 years after publication A 2000 study that concluded the well-known herbicide glyphosate was safe, widely cited since then, has just been officially disavowed by the journal that published it. The scientists are suspected of ...

#Glyphosate - how much damage done in those 25 years, to #PublicHealth and #biodiversity.

We have to stop this #pesticide merry-go-round of new-wonder-chemical, concerns, then obvious disaster.

We need #agroecology

www.lemonde.fr/en/environme...

A fluffy precious little white tern chick laying on a branch

PSA!!!!!! 🚨

White tern chick!!!!!! 🪶

Record-breaking 75-year-old mother #bird prepares to nest.
Wisdom has been laying #eggs since the Eisenhower Administration. #Albatross #WorldsOldestBreedingBird #Bird

Link for more info, #photos & video: www.popsci.com/environment/...

#CriticallyEndangered Penguins (Spheniscus demersus) 🐧 vs. Fisheries in South Africa 🇿🇦

- Penguins lose 🌍

#Birds #Ornithology #MarineEcology

phys.org/news/2025-11...

After Devastating Attack, Madagascar's Indigenous Forest Defenders Need Help to Rebuild - Conservation Allies This week, the President of the Makirovana Association—an Indigenous community organization (VOI) that co-manages the Makirovana-Tsihomanaomby Protected Area in northeastern Madagascar and a Conservat...

conservationallies.org/after-devast...

Honestly, when will unis and other research orgs collectively say enough is enough, and invoice them for all our unpaid labour that drives publishers MASSIVE profits?

The Money in Scientific Publishing danielroelfs.com/posts/the-mo... @danielroelfs.com

#KnowledgeSlavery

HUGE outbreak of HPAI in Norwegian seabirds, w "environmental contamination" of sheep grazing areas. 1/220 sheep tested positive by serology.
👉 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Photo looking up inside a Jacarandah canopy where 3 tawny frogmouts stand close together on a branch. The adult looks down at the camera while the two chicks snooze with their heads tucked in their feathers

Sometimes I pay attention to birds that are not seabirds!

Conservationists say endangered cockatoos killed by prescribed burn Environmental and conservation experts in Western Australia challenge claims by Environment Minister Matthew Swinbourn that two endangered bird species were not present in a patch of Great Southern bu...

"A formal cockatoo survey report was not prepared...length of time spent in the burn block assessing the area was...not logged by the department...Asked if...staff...assessed...nests or hollows on foot...DBCA did not respond & declined to provide...data & assessments." www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...

Unsurprisingly, the suspected cases of HPAI H5N1 in elephant seals on Australia's subAntarctic island (Heard Island) have been confirmed.
👉 minister.agriculture.gov.au/collins/medi...

Proximity to seabird colonies and water availability shape moss distributions in Antarctica vist.ly/4fqxk #SDM #Mosses #Biogeography

Studying for an MSc this year & looking for a #seabird research project?

We're looking for a student to help investigate the factors that influence #StormPetrel response rates during playback surveys. 🔊🐣

🔗Do get in touch if you have any Qs: www.rspb.org.uk/helping-natu... #seabirds #ornithology

#SuperSeabirdSunday Magnificent Frigatebird in Costa Rica. @steelyseabirder.bsky.social

Common Noddy at Christmas Island in 2023. #SuperSeabirdSunday #seabirds