The Seabirds At Sea Team: 1979 – ?

In 1979 the Seabirds at Sea Team was formed by four biologists in Aberdeen, Scotland. During the three year contract they developed and carried out a survey of the distribution of seabirds in offshore waters of the North Sea. Eight years later the Team is still in existence, but the members have changed. The team of three ornithologists (Andy Webb, leader, Stuart Benn and Genevieve Leaper) and one marine biologist (to be appointed; have started another three year contract. Mark Tasker, until recently the Team Leader, has taken up a new position as Marine Ornithologist with the Nature Conservancy Council. The aim will be to carry out distribution studies off western Scotland and in the Irish Sea and to examine special features of interest in the North Sea. The programme is a continuation from three years of survey in the North Sea and one year off north-west Scotland. Most of the work will consist of routine observations from a variety of ships; research and fishery protection vessels and ferries. However, the Team will carry out a number of special projects. These will look at thie inshore waters in extra detail from the air and from land, especially around the deeply indented coastline of western Scotland.