The North Atlantic supports some of the largest seabird populations in the world, especially in the northern hemisphere. Many have declined dramatically over recent decades, resulting in several species now being listed in national and international lists of threatened species. Most seabirds spread out outside the breeding season and sometimes range over huge areas during their annual cycle. To ensure suitable conservation actions, it is essential to have good documentation of the population distributions in time and space and of the environmental factors that affect these populations. Until recently, it has been difficult to follow large-scale migratory movements. New technology has, however, enabled us to study this in much greater detail and gives us the opportunity to acquire new and relevant knowledge for the management of seabirds in marine areas.
The SEATRACK (SEAbird TRACKing) programme aims to map the non-breeding distribution of seabirds breeding throughout the North Atlantic and understand how changes in environmental conditions affect their demography and population trajectories. The programme was initiated in 2014 and is currently in its third phase (Phase I 2014-2018, Phase II 2019-2022 and Phase III 2023-2026).
The main goal of SEATRACK Phase I was to track the non‐breeding distribution of seabirds breeding in colonies encircling the Barents, Norwegian and North Seas. The focus was therefore on seabirds breeding in Russia, Norway (including Svalbard and Jan Mayen), Iceland, the Faroes, and the UK. Eleven species were selected as focal species, representing five ecological (functional) groups (pelagic divers, pelagic surface feeders, coastal surface feeders, coastal fish-eaters, and coastal benthic feeders). In Phase II focus was extended to cover the whole North Atlantic and colonies in Ireland, western Scotland, Greenland and Canada were included. Tracking of juvenile birds and the development of leg-mounted GPS-tags also became elements in the programme. In Phase III five new species were included (northern gannet, great skua, Arctic tern, Leach’s storm petrel, and razorbill) and colonies in France, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Finland, and Sweden were included to fill gaps in breeding distributions of SEATRACK species.
