125: Seabird Survey with Stu Bearhop and Kendrew Colhoun

This is the first of two episodes dedicated to the Seabird Monitoring work package at the MarPAMM Interreg project. Today we talk about seabird surveys on remote Scottish locations. Our guests are Stuart Bearhop, Professor of Animal Ecology at the University of Exeter’s Centre for Ecology & Conservation and Dr Kendrew Colhoun who is responsible for managing BirdWatch Ireland’s work package for MarPAMM.

Regular listeners know, from previous episodes, that researchers at MarPAMM often use innovative techniques and cutting-edge technologies in their research. The work package we talk about today is an example of this. We discuss the old and new ways of surveying seabirds and the pros and cons of each. We talk about the main threats to seabirds and the impact of climate change on their habitat. My guests’ descriptions of the isolated and rugged location where their research took place give our conversation a taste of a great outdoor adventure.