UVic Research at 1st World Seabird Conference

NOT JUST BIRD TALK, IT’S A WARNING: University of Victoria graduate student Jennifer Provencher, as part of the multi-year scientific program International Polar Year (IPY), has studied the changing diet of Arctic prey birds and discovered a trail of discomforting plastic.
       Not only has the thick-billed murre altered its diet due to climate change (it’s now hunting capelin, a fish usually found in warmer Atlantic waters, rather than consuming the cold-water Arctic cod as it did 20 years ago) but the hard remnants of red bottle caps and fluorescent airgun pellets have also found a way into the stomachs of these Arctic marine birds.
       “We think about the Arctic as pristine and remote but this research shows the Arctic is much closer than we think,” says Provencher. “Even though it’s out of sight for most of us, we can’t keep the Arctic out of mind when we make our consumer choices. As the climate changes, the fish species are changing and the birds are telling us that.”
       Provencher will present her findings at the first-ever World Seabird Conference here in Victoria next week when more than 800 scientists from 40 countries will share new information and findings related to conservation problems facing the world’s penguins, puffins and other marine birds. Organized locally by UVic adjunct professor Dr. Patrick O’Hara, Provencher’s co-supervisor, this event takes place at the Victoria Conference Centre from Sept. 7 to 11 and will also showcase UVic research on seabird forest nesting habitats, seasonal abundance patterns, marine nutrient influences and impacts from oil and gas spills. For more information, visit www.worldseabirdconference.com.
       Provencher’s project was funded under a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada grant, with fieldwork directly sponsored by IPY.

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