UBC master鈥檚 student Michelle Paleczny and co-authors of the study compiled information on more than 500 seabird populations from around the world, representing 19 per cent of the global seabird population. They found overall populations had declined by 69.6 per cent, equivalent to a loss of about 230 million birds in 60 years, UBC said in a statement.
A variety of factors are to blame: overfishing of the fish that seabirds rely on for food, birds getting tangled in fishing gear, plastic and oil pollution, introduction of non-native predators to seabird colonies, destruction and changes to seabird habitat, and environmental and ecological changes caused by climate change.
Closer to home, a UBC study on glaucous-winged gulls, the most common seagull species on sa国际传媒鈥檚 southern coast, found populations of that species started to drop in the mid-1980s. A 2010 bird count showed a 57 per cent decline in nesting pairs since 1986. Researchers blame lower numbers of herring and other high-protein fish that are a major part of the gulls鈥� diet.
鈥淪eabirds are particularly good indicators of the health of marine ecosystems,鈥� says Paleczny. 鈥淲hen we see this magnitude of seabird decline, we can see there is something wrong with marine ecosystems. It gives us an idea of the overall impact we鈥檙e having.鈥�
A bit of whitewash on a car seems a small problem by comparison.
