UCC scientist fits tiny trackers to 36 Manx shearwaters to measure their dives

The researchers find that climate change could negatively impact seabird populations by making prey more difficult to detect

UCC ecologist, Jamie Darby, and his team fitted tiny tracking devices to 36 Manx shearwaters on Little Saltee off the Wexford coast. He subsequently logged 5,472 dives, made by the birds during 79 foraging trips, and correlated the results with "factors affecting underwater visibility, including water turbidity, cloud cover and solar angle"

Everyone loves puffins. Gannets guillemots and ‘stormy petrels’ feature in despatches occasionally but not the Manx shearwater; the man-on-the-street scarcely ever hears of it. Yet, we are especially responsible for the continued welfare of this unique bird: around 80% of the world’s ‘manxies’ breed colonially on 50, mostly uninhabited, Irish, Welsh and Scottish islands.

Around 80% of the world's Manx Shearwaters (Puffinus puffinus) breed colonially on 50, mostly uninhabited, Irish, Welsh and Scottish islands. Pictures: Jamie Darby