At night the centipede crawls through thick leaf litter, using two sensitive antennae to navigate a labyrinth of seabird burrows across the forest floor.
Seabirds journey vast distances across the Earth’s seascapes to find food and to breed. This means their biology, particularly their breeding success, can reveal what’s happening in our oceans.
Researcher and photographer Claire Greenwell explains why people are the biggest threat to nesting shorebirds, and the simple ways you can help keep them safe next time you’re at the beach.
Storm petrels are one of the world’s most abundant seabirds, but their numbers have plummeted in some places.
(Shutterstock)
Seabird colonies are thought to be in rapid decline. But knowing just how severe the loss is can be a challenge, so some scientists are turning to bird poop for the answer.
Emperor Penguins thrive in harsh conditions, but a new study shows that their fate depends on human action to slow global warming and associated loss of sea ice.
An oiled penguin in the aftermath of a spill in the waters of Algoa Bay.
Lloyd Edwards
Oil spills from a project that’s designed to harness the economic potential of South Africa’s oceans are threatening the world’s largest remaining African Penguin colony.
Birds can usually sense when they are not feeling well and like many other creatures, seem to seek out-of-the-way places to be alone.
A drone image of a breeding colony of Greater Crested Terns. Researchers used plastic bird decoys to replicate this species in an experiment that compared different ways of counting wildlife.
Jarrod Hodgson
A few thousand fake ducks, a group of experienced wildlife spotters and a drone have proven the usefulness and accuracy of drones for wildlife monitoring.
African penguins appear to move away from areas where seismic underwater surveys are happening.
Lorien Pichegru
Mercury levels in seabirds living off the coast of British Columbia have been stable in recent years. New research suggests that this may be due to changes in their diet, not pollution control.
Many seabird species, including the blue petrel (Halobaena caerulea), consume plastic at sea because algae on the plastic produce an odor that resembles their food sources.
J.J. Harrison
Thousands of seabirds die every year from consuming plastic trash in the oceans. But why do they eat plastic? New research shows that it produces odors that help some species find prey.