The Seabird Ecological Assessment Network (SEANET) aims to develop a long-term monitoring database in which seabird mortality and demographic information will be collected. The base-line data collected includes regular volunteer-based beached bird surveys that will serve as an initiation point for many coastal and marine conservation studies. This database will enable us to monitor marked changes in environmental conditions, using aquatic birds as bioindicator species both intra-annually and inter-annually.  A similar monitoring program has been in place in California and Washington state for many years and has provided tremendous insight into seasonal and annual mortality rates of seabirds on the west coast.

This project is lead by Drs. Julie Ellis, Flo Tseng, and Mark Pokras at Tufts University CCM. Wildlife Trust is a SEANET collaborator surveying beaches in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The Wildlife Trust SEANET program is led by Dr. Scott Newman in collaboration with Susan Elbin and Christine Banks. SEANET is a citizen-scientist program that links scientists, veterinarians, and volunteers to walk beaches monthly from Maine to Delaware to count, collect, and study mortality in seabirds. The information will be used to develop a mortality and morbidity research program for seabirds. 

Volunteers monitor a particular stretch of beach once or twice a month for seabird mortality; if you are interested in volunteer trainings in your area, visit our website and/or contact Becky Harris at becky.harris@tufts.edu.

For more information please visit: www.tufts.edu/vet/seanet