Seabird Ecological Assessment Network (SEANET)

Lloyd Center Research Associate, Jamie Bogart, who heads up the Lloyd Center’s collaboration with Tufts University as the Buzzards Bay coordinator of the Seabird Ecological Assessment Network (SEANET), recently participated in the Coastal Waterbird Program of the Massachusetts Audubon Society, in celebration of the program’s 25th year. The focus was on what needs to be done, going forward in the realm of shorebird conservation, including dealing with climate change and sea-level rise. It is expected that storms, such as our recently experienced Hurricane Sandy, will be increasingly altering our shores, forcing waterbirds to adapt to such change more frequently in years to come.

 Bogart says he was reminded of how many species of these birds we have here in Buzzards Bay and on the Slocum River, which the Lloyd Center main campus overlooks, and how susceptible they are to drastic changes in their environments. Major storms, such as Hurricane Sandy, in addition to shaping beaches, impact waterbirds well out at sea. Since 2002, Lloyd Center volunteers have been faithfully walking South Coast beaches, on a monthly basis, as part SEANET research. These citizen-scientists continue to participate in this important work today in what has become one of the nation’s most far-reaching citizen-science inventories of its kind. Information from these efforts is used at the highest levels of marine management and research.

Reminder: Opportunities to participate in this exciting program are open to anyone interested. A workshop (date to be determined) will be forthcoming. Prospective participants should contact Mr. Bogart at jbogart@lloydcenter.org or call 508-990-0505 x23 to get more information about joining the program and helping provide data that helps answer critical marine biology questions about our sea and its avian life.