SEANET (Seabird Ecological Assessment Network) - Powered by Anecdata.org

John D. Stanton; Caleb Spiegel; Jane Disney; Cait Bailey; Ashley Taylor; Alexis Garretson

doi:10.15468/2e789w

SEANET (Seabird Ecological Assessment Network) - Powered by Anecdata.org

Citation

D. Stanton J, Spiegel C, Anecdata.org Contributors, Disney J, Bailey C, Taylor A, Garretson A (2023). SEANET (Seabird Ecological Assessment Network) - Powered by Anecdata.org. Version 1.8. The Community Environmental Health Laboratory at MDI Biological Laboratory. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/2e789w accessed via GBIF.org on 2025-05-12.

Description

The Seabird Ecological Assessment Network (SEANET) was designed to bring together interdisciplinary researchers and members of the public (i.e. citizen scientists) in a long-term collaborative effort to identify and mitigate threats to seabirds (along the Northwest Atlantic seaboard). http://seanetters.wordpress.com Project goal To highlight that seabirds serve as indicators of the health of the marine ecosystem. What participants do: Walk a section of beach (at least 1 km long) 1-2X/month and record any beached (i.e. dead) seabirds. The Seabird Ecological Assessment Network (SEANET) is the only coordinated Beached Bird project on the Atlantic coast of the U.S. It was started in 2003 in Buzzard’s Bay, MA. Now, it consists of a network of volunteers from Maine to Florida. There are many global threats facing seabirds: emerging infectious diseases; interactions with fisheries; harmful algal blooms; contaminants (e.g. heavy metals, pesticides); plastics and overfishing of seabird prey items. The goals of SEANET are to: 1) bring together interdisciplinary researchers and members of the public (i.e. citizen scientists) in a long-term collaborative effort, 2) provide baseline information about bird mortality; 3) help to detect mass mortality events due to oil spills, toxins or disease outbreaks, 4) examine the spatial pattern of bird carcass deposition and how it varies across time, and 5) highlight that seabirds can serve as indicators of the marine ecosystem. The SEANET program does not require expert birding skills or travel to remote locations or specialized equipment. So what are SEANET volunteers asked to do? Read and sign a volunteer agreement, select a section of beach (at least 1 km long) that you can reliably access year-round and walk 1 or 2 times/month. SEANET will provide each volunteer a SEANET kit containing a guide, ruler, calipers, and marking tags. Each volunteer is asked to provide a digital camera (e.g. Cell phone), gloves, pencil and a clipboard. ALL REQUIRED FORMS are HEREopen_in_new: Monitoring manual, field data sheets, beach characteristics form, and the volunteer agreement. SEANET is carried out by both scientists and conservation-minded citizens. Through this program, you can participate in science and marine conservation. For more information visit: https://www.facebook.com/seanetters/open_in_new and http://seanetters.wordpress.comopen_in_new

Sampling Description

Study Extent

Read and sign a volunteer agreement, select a section of beach (at least 1 km long) that you can reliably access year-round and walk 1 or 2 times/month. SEANET will provide each volunteer a SEANET kit containing a guide, ruler, calipers, and marking tags. Each volunteer is asked to provide a digital camera (e.g. Cell phone), gloves, pencil and a clipboard.

Sampling

Read and sign a volunteer agreement, select a section of beach (at least 1 km long) that you can reliably access year-round and walk 1 or 2 times/month. SEANET will provide each volunteer a SEANET kit containing a guide, ruler, calipers, and marking tags. Each volunteer is asked to provide a digital camera (e.g. Cell phone), gloves, pencil and a clipboard.

Method steps

Read and sign a volunteer agreement, select a section of beach (at least 1 km long) that you can reliably access year-round and walk 1 or 2 times/month. SEANET will provide each volunteer a SEANET kit containing a guide, ruler, calipers, and marking tags. Each volunteer is asked to provide a digital camera (e.g. Cell phone), gloves, pencil and a clipboard.

Taxonomic Coverages

Geographic Coverages

Global coastal participation is encouraged.

Bibliographic Citations

Contacts

John D. Stanton
originator
position: Project Administrator
Anecdata.org
homepage: https://www.anecdata.org/user/JDS/

Caleb Spiegel
originator
position: Project Administrator
Anecdata.org
homepage: https://www.anecdata.org/user/caleb_spiegel/

Anecdata.org Contributors
originator
position: Data Contributors
Anecdata.org
homepage: https://anecdata.org/

Jane Disney
originator
position: Associate Professor of Environmental Health
MDI Biological Laboratory
159 Old Bar Harbor Rd.
Bar Harbor
04609
ME
US
email: jdisney@mdibl.org
homepage: https://mdibl.org/faculty/jane-e-disney-ph-d/
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4869-9802

Cait Bailey
originator
position: Systems Developer
MDI Biological Laboratory
159 Old Bar Harbor Rd.
Bar Harbor
04609
ME
US
email: cait@mdibl.org

Ashley Taylor
originator
position: Community Manager
MDI Biological Laboratory
159 Old Bar Harbor Rd.
Bar Harbor
04609
ME
US
email: ataylor@mdibl.org

Alexis Garretson
originator
position: Community Environmental Health Laboratory Manager
MDI Biological Laboratory
159 Old Bar Harbor Rd.
Bar Harbor
04609
ME
US
email: agarretson@mdibl.org
homepage: https://alexis-catherine.github.io/
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7260-0131

Alexis Garretson
metadata author
position: Community Environmental Health Laboratory Manager
MDI Biological Laboratory
159 Old Bar Harbor Rd.
Bar Harbor
04609
ME
US
email: agarretson@mdibl.org
homepage: https://alexis-catherine.github.io/
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7260-0131

Alexis Garretson
user
position: Community Environmental Health Laboratory Manager
MDI Biological Laboratory
159 Old Bar Harbor Rd.
Bar Harbor
04609
ME
US
email: agarretson@mdibl.org
homepage: https://alexis-catherine.github.io/
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7260-0131

Alexis Garretson
administrative point of contact
position: Community Environmental Health Laboratory Manager
MDI Biological Laboratory
159 Old Bar Harbor Rd.
Bar Harbor
04609
ME
US
email: agarretson@mdibl.org
homepage: https://alexis-catherine.github.io/
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7260-0131

Jane Disney
administrative point of contact
position: Associate Professor of Environmental Health
MDI Biological Laboratory
159 Old Bar Harbor Rd.
Bar Harbor
04609
ME
US
email: jdisney@mdibl.org
homepage: https://mdibl.org/faculty/jane-e-disney-ph-d/
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4869-9802

Cait Bailey
administrative point of contact
position: Systems Developer
MDI Biological Laboratory
159 Old Bar Harbor Rd.
Bar Harbor
04609
ME
US
email: cait@mdibl.org

Ashley Taylor
administrative point of contact
position: Community Manager
Anecdata.org
email: ataylor@mdibl.org

Anecdata.org
administrative point of contact
Anecdata.org
email: anecdata@mdibl.org
homepage: https://www.anecdata.org

Community Environmental Health Laboratory
administrative point of contact
position: Community Environmental Health Laboratory
MDI Biological Laboratory
159 Old Bar Harbor Rd.
Bar Harbor
04609
ME
US
email: CEHL@mdibl.org
homepage: https://mdibl.org/faculty/jane-e-disney-ph-d/
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4869-9802