The ecological disaster threatening Australian seabirds

Bill Fulton remembers counting 1,162 dead birds during a four-mile morning walk along the beach.

This roughly means one every four meters on average.

But when you tell people about work and the reality that confronts it, people tend to dismiss it as something strangely normal.

“We want people to know this is different,” Mr Fulton told AAP.

“This is on a mega scale and threatens the survival of the species.”

Thousands of seabirds washed up on the Australian coastline in the summer of 2023/24.

Theories differed about what triggered the disaster, but some wildlife groups cited bad weather as the most likely cause.

But marine scientist Jennifer Lavers, who specializes in seabird populations as part of her work with the research group Adrift Lab, is about to publish a paper claiming that a marine heatwave is causing the birds to starve to death.

He warns that history could also repeat itself, especially if a future heat wave coincides with an outbreak of a highly contagious strain of bird flu.

“We know from long-term observations of people living on beaches that birds do not wash up and die every year,” says Dr Lavers.

“So, when they are dead and about to die, something abnormal has happened.”

Characterized by persistently high ocean temperatures for at least five consecutive days, marine heatwaves can be defined as drops to the highest 10 percent of historical temperatures for that time of year.

Dr Lavers says one such ecological event two years ago coincided with the annual arrival of seabirds to Australia.

Approximately 20 million shearwaters fly from the northern hemisphere to their local breeding grounds each spring on an equatorial journey covering approximately 15,000 kilometers each.

“They traveled huge distances and found far less than ideal conditions,” explains Dr Lavers.

“This is at a time when they really need ideal conditions.”

Data collected by citizen scientists for his paper shows that the dead birds were unusually thin and emaciated, their food sources being driven away by extremely hot water.

After releasing ocean temperature forecast For the summer, the Bureau of Meteorology is predicting further increases in ocean temperatures in the coming months.

Dr Lavers says this will be of greater concern if a potential heatwave collides with the arrival of a highly contagious strain of H5 bird flu.

The virus, which affects poultry, wild birds and some mammals, is present in many parts of the world.

Despite an unusual number of deaths of elephant seal pups off Antarctica’s Heard Island this month, the federal government has downplayed any imminent risk of these pups arriving in Australia.

The mostly barren volcanic outpost lies about 4000km southwest of Perth, but birds such as albatross and shearwater are capable of traveling much greater distances.

As a starting point, the risk of transmission of bird flu remains high, especially through migratory birds.

Dr Lavers is calling for a national seabird beach monitoring program to ensure that if dead birds start to resurface, the cause can be clearly identified.

“This is something the federal government needs to fix immediately,” he says.

His paper is supported by research collected from citizen scientists who walked the coastline from Brisbane and Hobart to count carcasses.

Port Stephens photographer Silke Stuckenbrock is one of the contributing volunteers.

About 15 years ago, during a seabird rescue effort, Dr. He became involved in the project after meeting Lavers.

Photographing sick and dead birds is difficult, but Ms Stuckenbrock says she is most disappointed by those who ignore the issue.

“People come up to me and tell me it’s normal, and that’s what really gets me,” he says.

“I have been in the colonies for over a decade and have seen them become increasingly quiet.

“We need to take action.”

Mr Fulton is another dedicated contributor, sometimes driving up to two hours from his home on the NSW Central Coast to collect data.

While counting dead birds can often be a hassle, he thinks the task goes a long way to what is needed.

“It looks scary and sometimes it seems hopeless,” he suggests.

“But one person can make this a big change in the world.”

According to the Federal Ministry for the Environment, the government has invested approximately $36 million in preparation for a possible H5 bird flu epidemic.

“This includes mitigating the impact of other threats such as invasive species, other diseases and heat stress,” a spokesman said.

They also noted the support of a marine heatwave forecasting tool developed by the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO.

Bird surveillance is carried out by separate organisations, including Parks Australia and the National Avian Influenza Wild Bird Surveillance Programme.

Wildlife Health Australia is also coordinating a pilot program to test a national platform for reporting sick and dead birds, with a particular focus on H5.

In addition, BirdLife Australia is developing the Birdata app to enable citizen scientists to report sick or dead birds and create a breeding habitat register to consolidate existing data.

Dr Lavers recommends anyone interested in helping monitor seabirds register with iNaturalist’s coastal birds database or contribute to the Adrift Lab database.