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The Santos Basin in eastern Brazil is adjacent to the largest human populations in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean, with several potential threats to marine vertebrates. In this study, we provided a systematic bibliographic review and integrated unpublished primary datasets to provide an overview on species, research topics and gaps, and threats to seabirds in the Santos Basin. Bibliographical sources were used for species recorded within the limits of the basin, while species census data were obtained through research and monitoring projects. We analyzed 156 studies from 1914 to 2021. An increase in the number of publications was observed from the 2000s onward (> 80%), with the state of Santa Catarina showing the highest number of publications (56%) on seabirds. Notes and Records (27%), Population and Community Structure (22%), and Fishing (11%) were the main subjects studied. Among the 76 seabird species reported in the Santos Basin (~2/3 of the species reported in Brazil), Procellariiformes was the most prevalent order (51%), including 14 species listed as threatened, either globally or nationally. Resident (28%) and long-distance migratory species, such as visitors from the Southern (39%) and Northern (17%) Hemispheres and Europe (12%), were widely recorded in the region, as well as vagrant species. The inclusion of different data sources allowed broadening the geographic cover used by species to consider both coastal (predominating in previous studies) and offshore areas. The association of seabird distribution with oceanographic and meteorological features should be addressed in future studies, as should studies on the impact of fishing and pollution on a range of common species.

Aim: Decision-making products that support effective marine spatial planning are essential for guiding efforts that enable conservation of biodiversity facing increasing pressures. Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) are a product recently agreed upon by an international network of organizations for identifying globally important areas. Utilizing the KBA framework, and by developing a conservative protocol to identify sites, we identify globally importants places for breeding seabirds throughout the coastal seas of a national territory. We inform marine spatial planning by evaluating potential activities that may impact species and how a proposed network of Marine Management Areas (MMAs) overlap with important sites. Location: Southwest Atlantic Ocean. Methods: We collated a national inventory of all breeding locations for seabirds, including abundance records where available, and complementary estimates of at-sea distribution. We delineated areas of importance in coastal seas following approaches tailored to the ecology of species and assessed areas against global KBA criteria. To determine opportunities for species conservation and management, we reviewed which human activities have been documented to impact the target species globally via IUCN Red List accounts, and also assessed the overlap of important sites with a proposed MMA network. Results: We identified global KBAs for nine seabird species (Anatidae, Diomedeidae, Laridae, Procellariidae, Spheniscidae, Stercorariidae) throughout national coastal seas. Globally important areas where multiple species overlapped were only partially accounted for in key zones of the proposed MMA network. Main Conclusions: Development of a conservative protocol to identify marine sites for assessment against KBA criteria, revealed opportunities for enhancing a network of proposed Marine Management Areas in coastal seas. The framework we apply in this study has broad relevance for other systems where the design or review of management plans for the marine environment is required. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

The Hywind Scotland Pilot Park located off the east coast of Scotland has been in operation since 2017 and comprises five floating wind turbines with a total generating capacity of 30 MW. Ornithological monitoring is required as part of the Marine Licence for the wind farm and is carried out in conjunction with a large-scale seabird monitoring and research programme in north-western Europe (SEATRACK) involving the deployment of geolocation loggers to obtain seabird location estimates throughout the winter. Of particular concern are two species of auks (common guillemot Uria aalge and razorbill Alca torda) known to be highly vulnerable to displacement and barrier effects from offshore renewable developments. As part of the Hywind Scotland’s ornithological monitoring, data on year-round distribution and movements of guillemots and razorbills at three major colonies along the east coast of Scotland (East Caithness SPA, Buchan Ness to Collieston Coast SPA and Isle of May National Nature Reserve) were collected over two years (2017-18 and 2018-19). In 2017, a total of 190 geolocation loggers were deployed at the three study colonies. During the 2018 breeding season, a total of 82 loggers were retrieved and 193 new data loggers were deployed. During the 2019 breeding season a total of 102 loggers were retrieved, including several deployed in the first year. We obtained reasonable sample sizes in all cases (range 11-28) except razorbills at Buchan Ness to Collieston Coast, where only five loggers were retrieved each year. The geolocation data were processed using a probabilistic method to obtain two locations per day for each bird throughout the non-breeding period. The geolocation data were analysed to determine utilisation distributions for each species at each colony in 2017-18 and 2018-19. Overlap in distributions was quantified and minimum adequate sample size of tracked birds was examined. For both species, the distribution of birds from the three study colonies was similar at a broad spatial scale, with key wintering areas located around the colonies and in the central and southern parts of the North Sea. In guillemots, among-colony spatial similarity in kernel densities was generally high throughout the non-breeding period. In razorbills, spatial similarity among colonies was highest in the post-breeding period and lowest in late winter. Our results indicate that the three populations of guillemots and razorbills had a similar overall non-breeding distribution, with extensive use of the central and southern North Sea and areas around the breeding colonies, and this was broadly consistent between years. However, in both species there were important differences among colonies in the location of hotspots during the non-breeding period. The data provide important insights into the year-round space use of these two key species at three major colonies on the east coast of Scotland and their potential interaction with offshore renewable developments.

International audience; The expansion of human activities in offshore maritime regions has outpaced the development of scientific knowledge and cooperative governance across these areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ). In this context, current negotiations by the United Nations aim for an international legally-binding instrument to improve governance and sustainable use of biodiversity in ABNJ. Penguins are among the most threatened seabird groups today, notably at sea from fisheries and oiling. Here, we examine the available information on penguins’ movements and evaluate their use of ABNJ across species and life-cycle stages. We highlight that in most of the 18 extant penguin species, the birds may undertake spectacular migrations, seasonally or throughout life-cycle stages. Long-range movements were reported in 16 species, with trans-jurisdictional distribution in 14 species, including 13 in ABNJ. Species richness in ABNJ varied extensively according to oceanic region, and also varied according to season. Transboundary movements, notably to ABNJ, are thus remarkably prevalent among penguin species. Consequently, provisions of the treaty under negotiation may crucially benefit penguin conservation, notably by creating a uniform legal framework to designate protected areas in ABNJ, and by promoting the precautionary approach to extraction activities. However, the seasonally-dynamic utilisation of ABNJ by penguins supports the pertinence of adding innovative protection tools, such as mobile Marine Protected Areas, to the negotiations for a more adequate protection of marine biodiversity. Underlining penguins’ remarkable connectivity to the high seas can thus further strengthen this instrument aiming to protect a global ocean commons heritage of mankind.

Each winter, the North Atlantic Ocean is the stage for numerous cyclones, the most severe ones leading to seabird mass-mortality events called ‘‘winter wrecks.’’ During these, thousands of emaciated seabird carcasses are washed ashore along European and North American coasts. Winter cyclones can therefore shape seabird population dynamics by affecting survival rates as well as the body condition of surviving individuals and thus their future reproduction. However, most often the geographic origins of impacted seabirds and the causes of their deaths remain unclear. We performed the first ocean-basin scale assessment of cyclone exposure in a seabird community by coupling winter tracking ∼ 1,500 individuals of five key North Atlantic seabird species (Alle alle, Fratercula arctica, Uria aalge, Uria lomvia, and Rissa tridactyla) and cyclone locations. We then explored the energetic consequences of different cyclonic conditions using a mechanistic bioenergetics model and tested the hypothesis that cyclones dramatically increase seabird energy requirements. We demonstrated that cyclones of high intensity impacted birds from all studied species and breeding colonies during winter but especially those aggregating in the Labrador Sea, the Davis Strait, the surroundings of Iceland, and the Barents Sea. Our broad-scale analyses suggested that cyclonic conditions do not increase seabird energy requirements, implying that they die because of the unavailability of their prey and/or their inability to feed during cyclones. Our study provides essential information on seabird cyclone exposure in a context of marked cyclone regime changes due to global warming. at-sea distributioncyclonesenergy expenditureGLS trackingseabird migrationseascape ecology North Atlantic winter cyclones starve seabirds

Este artículo contiene 21 páginas, 6 figuras, 5 tablas., Seabirds inhabiting vast water masses provide numerous examples where opposing phenomena, such as natal and breeding philopatry vs. vagility have dug cryptic taxonomic boundaries among closely related taxa. The taxonomy of little shearwaters of the North Atlantic Ocean (Little–Audubon’s shearwater complex, Puffinus assimilis–lherminieri) still remains unclear, and complementary information on non-breeding distributions and at-sea behaviour becomes essential to unravel divergent local adaptations to specific habitats. Using miniaturized light-level geolocators from seven study areas in the North Atlantic, we evaluate the spatial and habitat segregation, estimate the timing of their key life-cycle events and describe the at-sea behaviour of three taxa of these little shearwaters year-round to distinguish ecological patterns and specializations that could ultimately unravel potential lineage divergences. We also assess morphometric data from birds that were breeding at each study area to further discuss potential adaptations to specific habitats. Our results show that, while birds from different taxa segregated in space and habitats, they share ecological plasticity, similar annual phenology and diel foraging behaviour. These ecological inconsistencies, while defining the evolutionary stressors faced by these taxa, do not suggest the existence of three Evolutionary Significant Units. However, they confirm the recent evolutionary divergence among the three little shearwaters of the North Atlantic., We acknowledge the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO), the Fondos FEDER (CGL2009-11278/BOS, CGL2013-42585-P), the EU LIFE Programme (LIFE09 NAT/PT/000041) and the British Ornithologists’ Union for funding.RR was supported by postdoctoral contracts of the Juan de la Cierva (JCI-2012–11848) and PLEAMAR (2017/2349) programs from the Spanish MINECO and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF), respectively, VHP by a postdoctoral fellowship of Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT; SFRH/BPD/85024/2012) and ZZ by a PhD grant (APIF-2012) from Universitat de Barcelona (Spain).

The Black-capped Petrel Pterodroma hasitata is a pelagic seabird with a dangerously small population size. Remaining breeding sites are threatened by habitat loss, introduced predators, and direct harvesting. The species likely also faces several threats at sea, but because knowledge of its distribution range and ecology is meagre at best, it is challenging to take concerted action to improve its conservation status. The species is currently known to breed only on Hispaniola (in the northern Caribbean Sea), but most at-sea observations are from the Florida Current and the Gulf Stream off the southeastern coast of the USA. Within the Caribbean Sea, observations are scarce. We compiled a database of at-sea sightings of Black-capped Petrels in the Caribbean Sea from 1953 to 2018 by thoroughly reviewing published and unpublished records (Appendix 1); here, we add to the literature 12 new records from a research cruise conducted in February 2018 across the Caribbean Sea. Our database was augmented with recently published information from three birds that were fitted with tracking devices. Based on the collected information, we argue that the existing distribution maps of Black-capped Petrels need adjustments. We show that Black-capped Petrels have been recorded throughout the central parts of the Caribbean, from the known breeding sites in the north down to coastal waters off Panama, Colombia, and Venezuela. However, the birds probably forage only in small parts of the Caribbean Sea (i.e., the coastal upwelling zones off Hispaniola and Cuba in the north and off the South American mainland in the south). The waters in between (i.e., in the central Caribbean Sea) appear to be mainly used as a corridor, while the eastern and western parts are unimportant. This indicates that certain hotspots within the Caribbean Sea may be more important to this endangered species than previously thought.

Studies of the at-sea distribution and trophic ecology of penguins are essential to understand their role in the broader marine food web. Magellanic Penguins Spheniscus magellanicus have a wide distribution and their foraging behaviour varies across breeding sites and between sexes, among others. In this study, we characterized the at-sea areas, the diving strategies and the relative trophic level of Magellanic Penguins breeding at Isla de los Estados, Argentina, during the early chick-rearing period. In addition, we quantified the interannual, sexual and individual variability in those parameters during three breeding seasons (2011–2013) using devices recording position and dive depth, and obtained blood samples for stable isotope analysis. During the early chick-rearing period, Magellanic Penguins showed small differences between the sexes in their foraging behaviour and large overlap in the at-sea areas used, suggesting no intraspecific variation between sexes. Although there was interannual variability in the foraging behaviour and the trophic level of the penguins, most of the studied nests managed successfully to raise both chicks during the first stage of the breeding cycle (guard stage). The foraging ecology of Magellanic Penguins from this colony was comparable with results of past studies at other breeding colonies. This study contributes to the identification of important at-sea areas for Magellanic Penguins at the southern edge of their distribution and also to the identification of possible threats in the study area such as interaction with fisheries. Fil: Rosciano, Natalia Gimena. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas; Argentina Fil: Pütz, Klemens. Antarctic Research Trust; Alemania Fil: Polito, Michael J.. State University of Louisiana; Estados Unidos Fil: Raya Rey, Andrea Nélida. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas; Argentina

Seabird distributions are determined by physical and biological factors operating at variable scales and levels of ecological organization. Accordingly, changes in the composition of the marine avifauna often correspond to large-scale (macro-mega) shifts in water mass properties. Yet, few studies have addressed biogeographical patterns across multiple current systems, spanning from highly-productive to oligotrophic waters. In this study, we characterize the at-sea assemblages of nesting seabirds across the Eastern South Pacific Ocean (ESPO), a vast region spanning from the Humboldt Current to the South Pacific Gyre. Employing multivariate techniques, we first identify four distinct species assemblages and then relate their distributions to the underlying environmental conditions. Our results show that Julian day, depth, sea surface temperature, sea surface salinity, and chlorophyll-α concentration are the most important factors explaining the distribution patterns of these assemblages. Moreover, environmental conditions also explain overall seabird abundance and species richness, two community-level characteristics indicative of ocean productivity. Seabird abundance was best explained by four variables, associated with onshore-offshore gradients (distance to the coast, ocean depth), and the influence of coastal upwelling (mean mixed layer depth, sea surface salinity). Richness was best explained by seasonality (Julian day) and by the presence of water mass boundaries (sea surface temperature coefficient of variation). Our findings underscore the importance of environmental factors structuring the distribution and biogeography of seabirds across gradients of ocean productivity and water mass properties. Understanding the environmental drivers of seabird abundance and richness in the ESPO will inform the prioritization and design of effective marine conservation measures in this poorly studied region.

The Black-capped Petrel Pterodroma hasitata is a pelagic seabird with a dangerously small population size. Remaining breeding sites are threatened by habitat loss, introduced predators, and direct harvesting. The species likely also faces several threats at sea, but because knowledge of its distribution range and ecology is meagre at best, it is challenging to take concerted action to improve its conservation status. The species is currently known to breed only on Hispaniola (in the northern Caribbean Sea), but most at-sea observations are from the Florida Current and the Gulf Stream off the southeastern coast of the USA. Within the Caribbean Sea, observations are scarce. We compiled a database of at-sea sightings of Black-capped Petrels in the Caribbean Sea from 1953 to 2018 by thoroughly reviewing published and unpublished records (Appendix 1); here, we add to the literature 12 new records from a research cruise conducted in February 2018 across the Caribbean Sea. Our database was augmented with recently published information from three birds that were fitted with tracking devices. Based on the collected information, we argue that the existing distribution maps of Black-capped Petrels need adjustments. We show that Black-capped Petrels have been recorded throughout the central parts of the Caribbean, from the known breeding sites in the north down to coastal waters off Panama, Colombia, and Venezuela. However, the birds probably forage only in small parts of the Caribbean Sea (i.e., the coastal upwelling zones off Hispaniola and Cuba in the north and off the South American mainland in the south). The waters in between (i.e., in the central Caribbean Sea) appear to be mainly used as a corridor, while the eastern and western parts are unimportant. This indicates that certain hotspots within the Caribbean Sea may be more important to this endangered species than previously thought.

International audience; Migration is a fundamental aspect of the ecology and evolutionary history of many animals, driven by seasonal changes in resource availability and habitat structure. Seabird migration has been investigated extensively in highly seasonal temperate and polar environments. By contrast, the relationships between migration and seasonal environmental changes have rarely been studied in tropical marine habitats. The sooty tern Onychoprion fuscatus is the most abundant tropical seabirds, and has been ranked as the most important tropical species in terms of its annual estimated consumption of marine resources. We used global location sensing (GLS loggers) to describe for the first time the year-round at-sea distribution and activity patterns of sooty terns from a large breeding colony in the western Indian Ocean (Bird Island, Seychelles). While breeding, they foraged within 1,074 ± 274 km of the colony. After breeding, birds undertook an extensive post-breeding migration throughout the Indian Ocean; average distances traveled exceeded 50,000 km per individual. Sooty terns used mainly four distinct core oceanic areas during the non-breeding period; in the Bay of Bengal (A), northeast to an area straddling the Chagos-Laccadive plateau (B), southeast to an area on each side of the 90 East Ridge (C) and southwest to an area around Comoros (D). Individuals exhibited a high degree of fidelity to these core areas in successive years. We also established that they performed an unusual behavior for a non-Procellariiformes seabird; most individuals undertook a 1-month pre-laying exodus, during which they foraged in a specific area c. 2,000 km to the southeast of the colony. Year-round at-sea activity of sooty terns revealed that they spent only 3.72% of their time in contact with seawater, so indicating that they must sleep in flight. Activity parameters exhibited seasonal (breeding vs. non-breeding periods) and daily variations; they notably never land on the water at night. In the Seychelles, breeding sooty terns are threatened by commercial egg harvesting. Our discovery of extremely wide non-breeding at-sea distribution highlights the risk of other threats during their non-breeding period, such as over-fishing, marine pollution and climate change.

Migration is a fundamental aspect of the ecology and evolutionary history of many animals, driven by seasonal changes in resource availability and habitat structure. Seabird migration has been investigated extensively in highly seasonal temperate and polar environments. By contrast, the relationships between migration and seasonal environmental changes have rarely been studied in tropical marine habitats. The sooty tern Onychoprion fuscatus is the most abundant tropical seabirds, and has been ranked as the most important tropical species in terms of its annual estimated consumption of marine resources. We used global location sensing (GLS loggers) to describe for the first time the year-round at-sea distribution and activity patterns of sooty terns from a large breeding colony in the western Indian Ocean (Bird Island, Seychelles). While breeding, they foraged within 1,074 ± 274 km of the colony. After breeding, birds undertook an extensive post-breeding migration throughout the Indian Ocean; average distances traveled exceeded 50,000 km per individual. Sooty terns used mainly four distinct core oceanic areas during the non-breeding period; in the Bay of Bengal (A), northeast to an area straddling the Chagos-Laccadive plateau (B), southeast to an area on each side of the 90 East Ridge (C) and southwest to an area around Comoros (D). Individuals exhibited a high degree of fidelity to these core areas in successive years. We also established that they performed an unusual behavior for a non-Procellariiformes seabird; most individuals undertook a 1-month pre-laying exodus, during which they foraged in a specific area c. 2,000 km to the south-east of the colony. Year-round at-sea activity of sooty terns revealed that they spent only 3.72% of their time in contact with seawater, so indicating that they must sleep in flight. Activity parameters exhibited seasonal (breeding vs. non-breeding periods) and daily variations; they notably never land on the water at night. In the Seychelles, breeding sooty terns are threatened by commercial egg harvesting. Our discovery of extremely wide non-breeding at-sea distribution highlights the risk of other threats during their non-breeding period, such as over-fishing, marine pollution and climate change.

Incidental mortality in fisheries is the main at-sea threat albatrosses are facing nowadays. In this study we used remote sensing techniques to model the degree of spatial overlapping between the Black-browed albatross (Thalassarche melanophris) and Argentine fisheries, assuming this as a proxy of risk for albatrosses. Eleven tags were deployed on albatrosses during the non-breeding seasons 2011 and 2012 in the Patagonian Shelf. Their distribution overlapped to different extents with the two coastal trawl, three offshore trawl and one demersal longline fisheries. The overlap index showed highest values with both coastal fleets, followed by the ice-chilling trawl fleet. These intersections were located in the Argentinean–Uruguayan Common Fishing Zone, in coastal areas of the SE of Buenos Aires province, El Rincón estuary and over the shelf break. The analysis of intersections of focal areas from albatrosses and all fisheries allowed the identification of thirty-four fishing management units (1° by 1° grid within the Argentine EEZ) classified as of medium, high or very high conservation priority. Very high priority units were placed between 35 and 38°S in the external mouth of Rio de la Plata, and between 45 and 47°S in neighboring waters East to the hake fishing closure. Although there were possible biases due to the limited number of tracked birds and the locations where albatrosses were captured and instrumented, the information presented in this study provides a comprehensive picture of important areas of overlapping during winter that could be used by the fishery administration to prioritize conservation actions under limited resource scenarios. Fil: Copello, Sofía. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencia Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina Fil: Seco Pon, Juan Pablo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencia Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina Fil: Favero, Marco. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencia Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina

We describe the migration routes and non-breeding areas of Common Terns (Sterna hirundo) from the Azores Archipelago, based on ringing (banding) recoveries and tracking of three birds using geolocators. Over 20 years, there have been 55 transatlantic recoveries of Common Terns from the Azores population: six from Argentina and 49 from Brazil. The three tracked birds migrated south in different months (August, September, November), but the northern migration was more synchronous, with all leaving in April. The birds were tracked to three areas of the South American coast: the male spent November—April on the northern Brazilian coast (13°N–2°S), whereas the two females first spent some time off central-eastern Brazil (4–16°S; one for 1 week, the other for 3 months) and then moved south to the coast of south-eastern Brazil, Uruguay and northern Argentina (24–39°S). Although caution is needed given the small sample size and errors associated with geolocation, the three tracked terns potentially travelled a total of ∼23 200 km to and returning from their non-breeding areas, representing an average movement of ∼500 km day−1. With the exception of Belém, in northern Brazil, and Lagoa do Peixe, in southern Brazil, the coastal areas used by the tracked birds were also those with concentrations of ringing recoveries, confirming their importance as non-breeding areas for birds from the Azores. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Indexación: Web of Science; Scielo. BACKGROUND: Skuas and jaegers (Charadriiformes: Stercorariidae) are seabirds breeding at moderate to high latitudes and some perform extensive post-breeding transequatorial migrations. Most species overwinter and perform significant portions of their migratory flyways along the Pacific coast of South America, but scant information is available on their at-sea ecology in this waters. Our aims in this study were to determine: 1) the timing of occurrence and fluctuations in abundance of skua and jaeger species, 2) their spatial distribution within the coastal zone and 3) at-sea behavior of birds, including flock size and interactions with other seabird species. RESULTS: Between July 2006 and October 2013, we conducted at-sea bird counts at Valparaiso Bay (33°S) in central Chile and confirmed the occurrence of Chilean skuas (Stercorarius chilensis), Brown skuas (S. antarcticus), and Parasitic jaegers (S. parasiticus). Parasitic jaegers are regular austral summer visitors (November to March), whereas Brown skuas occur in the area only in winter (July to October). Chilean skuas were regularly recorded year-round in the area with higher abundances between late winter and early spring (August to October). Brown and Chilean skuas where observed comparatively offshore, whereas Jaegers presented a more coastal distribution, probably associated to host presence. Chilean skuas kleptoparasitized similar-sized (shearwaters and fulmars) and larger seabird species (boobies), whereas jaegers chased only smaller coastal birds (gulls and terns). Brown skuas engaged in no kleptoparasitic behaviors. All three species were observed mostly as solitary individuals. CONCLUSIONS: Skuas and jaegers showed in general a marked seasonality in their occurrence and abundance (only Chilean skua occurs year-round) and use this area as a commuting and stopover zone within their extensive migratory flyway along the southeastern Pacific. http://ref.scielo.org/p7thpb

This is the first study using geolocators (global location sensing, GLS) to track the movements of a pelagic tropical seabird. We used GLS to describe at-sea distribution and activity patterns of wedge-tailed shearwaters Puffinus pacificus breeding on Aride Island, Seychelles, in the late chick-rearing, non-breeding and pre-breeding periods. During late chick-rearing and pre-breeding periods, shearwaters foraged relatively close to the colony. In the non-breeding period, shearwaters; were found on a west-east gradient along the equator, between 5 degrees N and 10 degrees S. Some of the tracked individuals showed little dispersion, staying as close as 1000 km to Aride Island, while others travelled 3500 km to the Central Indian Ocean Basin. Individual core areas of activity showed little overlap. Overall, wedge-tailed shearwaters showed short-distance movements and exploited relatively unproductive oceanic waters. At-sea distribution largely matched that of yellowfin and skipjack tunas, emphasising the importance of the association with subsurface predators rather than associations with physical oceanographic features that enhance primary productivity. During the non-breeding period, the feeding activity of, shearwaters was mainly concentrated in the daylight period, when tunas also forage. A different behaviour, characterised by a much lower proportion of the night sitting on the sea surface, was recorded in the pre-laying exodus of 1 female to more productive waters, suggesting a different feeding strategy and/or targeting of different prey. Knowledge of the at-sea distribution of wedge-tailed shearwaters allows quantification of the overlap with industrial fisheries, which will be crucial to devise fisheries policies for the Indian Ocean with important implications for the conservation of this species.

Las aves marinas son susceptibles a una variedad de impactos antropogénicos, incluyendo la ingestión de plásticos, vertidos de petróleo, competencia con la pesca y la captura incidental. Conocer su distribución en el mar puede ayudar a los gestores a evaluar la susceptibilidad de diferentes especies y poblaciones a amenazas específicas. Se caracterizó la distribución en el mar de la pardela balear Puffinus mauretanicus, una especie críticamente amenazada endémica de las Islas Baleares, a lo largo de la costa mediterránea de la península Ibérica durante tres años coincidiendo con el período de crecimiento del pollo (mayo-junio). La especie habitó principalmente la plataforma continental asociándose a frentes, en los que puede llegar a concentrarse una gran abundancia de presas, en torno a las aguas delta del Ebro., La aportación económica provino de fondos de fondos europeos (proyectos DISCBIRD) y de los Ministerios de Ciencia y Tecnología y de Medio Ambiente