Marine Heatwaves Provide Insights for Seabirds’ Futures

Media release – Australasian Seabird Group, 22 July 2023

Marine heatwaves provide insights for seabirds’ futures

A global review has shown that seabirds’ responses to present-day marine heatwaves provides insights into how seabirds will respond to future climate change.

The study, published in the leading international journal Marine Ecology Progress Series, was a collaboration between the Australasian Seabird Group, a special interest group of BirdLife Australia, and CSIRO.

Marine heatwaves are a global phenomenon, where sea temperatures are anomalously warm for extended periods, and are increasing in their frequency, intensity and extent.

“Marine heatwaves fundamentally change the marine environment on which seabirds depend, so by looking at how seabirds respond to current extremes provide critical insights into how they will deal with future scenarios when these conditions become the norm,” Dr Eric Woehler, lead author of the study said.

“Marine heatwaves are a window to the future global oceans, and the more extreme the marine heatwave, the farther into the future we can see,” Dr Woehler noted.

“Migratory and long-distance species such as albatrosses and shearwaters appear to be more likely to survive a marine heatwave than species that are confined to near-shore areas around their colonies, such as penguins,” Dr Alistair Hobday, co-author of the study and a world expert on marine heatwaves added.

The overlap between marine heatwaves and the seabird’s breeding season and foraging range were critical in determining seabirds’ responses and the likelihood whether they survived the event or not.

The study is open access and available at https://www.int-res.com/articles/meps_oa/m14333_advview.pdf