Ariel Heswall Profile picture
Seabird enthusiast and sensory ecologist!! 💗🐧 PhD student at the University of Auckland studying lights and plastics from the seabird's perspective 👀

Nov 9, 2021, 6 tweets

1. #BOUasm21 #BREAK1 Light pollution is devastating for #seabirds 💡It causes disorientation, fallout and deck strike/collisions. Our team @NNZST @ScienceUoA investigated if certain types of lights were more attractive to seabirds from their visual perspective!👁️🐦 #ornithology

2. #BOUasm21 #BREAK1 New Zealand is a #seabird hotspot with >25% of global seabird species. 26 species (mainly Procellariformes) breed in the Hauraki Gulf. Our team researched seabird light attraction at 3 islands and 1 peninsula in the Hauraki Gulf💡🐦#ornithology #conservation

3. #BOUasm21 #BREAK1 We used 6 types of boat lights, measured the irradiance, shone them randomly into the night sky, and counted the number of #seabirds visiting the light💡Each light was shone individually for 10 minutes followed by a dark control period for seabirds to adjust

4. #BOUasm21 #BREAK1 We set up a #thermalimaging camera and counted the number of #seabirds seen visiting each light. Here are some seabirds visiting the lights at Te-Hauturu-O-Toi/Little Barrier Island🐦💡 #ornithology #lights

5. #BOUasm21 #BREAK1 Site and probably local #seabird composition appear more important than light wavelength 🗺️! There was no effect of brightness. Also, during a full moon, fewer seabirds visited the lights compared to a new moon 💡🌑#ornithology #lights

6. #BOUasm21 #BREAK1 When modeled in a #seabird visual system, some lights may look similar and some look different. Maybe the seabird visual capacity influences light attraction👁️🐦Research down this avenue is being undertaken 😀 #ornithology #conservation #sensoryecology

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