213
6.1 Call for Abstracts
Marine top predators, such as cetaceans, seals, seabirds and
elasmobranchs, represent an essential part of marine ecosystems. They are generally regarded as sentinels of the sea
since their presence can, for instance, reflect high biological productivity and stabilize marine food webs. Besides
their ecological role, these top predators are also socioeconomically important. Many populations, however,
experience dramatic declines attributed to various human
induced threats (e.g., pollution, climate change), which
highlight the need for effective conservation. This session
invites contributions covering a broad range from fundamental ecological studies over modeling approaches to
conservation issues.
6.2 Abstracts of Oral Presentations
6.2.1 Possible Impacts of Human Pressures
on Seabirds: Insights from Recent Studies
in the North and Baltic Seas
Stefan Garthe
1*
1
Research and Technology Centre (FTZ), Kiel University,
Hafentörn 1, 25761 Büsum, Germany
*invited speaker, corresponding author: garthe@ftz-west.
uni-kiel.de
Keywords: Human Pressure, North Sea, Baltic Sea,
Seabird, Behavior
Humans have made use of sea products since hundreds of
years. But only since the middle of the last century these activities have reached a dimension that impacts natural dynamics
in northwestern European seas, mainly through the industrialization of fisheries and the exploitation of gas and oil resources.
Within the last decade, humans developed many more uses of
the seas, with offshore wind farms possibly being the most
obvious one. Marine animals are thus facing increasing human
pressures. In this talk I will first of all highlight how effects on
seabirds may be investigated. Methods range from well-established seabirds at sea counts to latest developments in microelectronics. In such cases, tags are attached to animals that
collect geographic position and often measure various other
parameters from which animal behavior can be deduced.
Examples for effects of human activities include offshore
wind farms, fisheries, plastic pollution and habitat alteration.
Case studies are presented for the offshore areas and coastal
zones of the North and Baltic Seas which range among the
most intensively used sea areas world-wide.
6.2.2 Drones as a New Tool for Antarctic Wildlife
Monitoring
Marie-Charlott Rümmler
1*
, Jan Esefeld
1
, Osama Mustafa
2
,
Hans-Ulrich Peter
2
1
Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Institute of Ecology,
Dornburger Str. 159, 07743 Jena, Germany
2
ThINK – Thüringer Institut für Nachhaltigkeit und
Klimaschutz, Leutragraben 1, 07743 Jena, Germany
*corresponding author: marie-charlott.ruemmler@unijena.de
Keywords: UAV, Disturbance, Penguins, Seals, Birds
Drones or UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) are a relatively new and rapidly expanding tool for environmental
research, particularly in the Antarctic, where huge datasets of
population censuses are often hard to accomplish due to the
harsh Antarctic conditions. Colonies of breeding birds or
congregations of terrestrial mammals can be difficult to estimate by traditional methods often involving a high level of
disturbance. Drones promise to provide a solution here for
various reasons, but the question of their impact on different
species still remains largely unanswered. During two
Antarctic summer seasons, we accomplished a series of disturbance experiments on various species to gather information on how they react to fly-overs by drones. Analyses of the
first experiments on Adélie and gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis
adeliae/P. papua) revealed a noticeable change in behavior
with approaching UAVs: at about 40 m, gentoo penguins
start to show first reactions to the drone. For Adélie penguins
this distance is further than 50 m. For both species, a strong
increase in impact seems to be caused by a drone flying at
distances of about 20 m, where the disturbance has to be considered severe. We also conducted experiments on the distance of the take-off of our drone and found it to be
sufficiently distant at 30 m for gentoo penguins, but farther
for Adélie penguins. In the second season we extended the
experiments to physiological measurements to get a better
comparison between different disturbance situations by
using heart-beat-measurement devices. Additionally, we
added more species to the experiments, namely skuas
(Catharacta maccormicki/C. antarctica lonnbergii), kelp
gulls (Larus dominicanus), southern giant petrels
(Macronectes giganteus) and Antarctic fur seals
(Arctocephalus gazella). An overview over the results found
in both seasons and the implications of these findings for
monitoring and conservation of Antarctic wildlife will be
presented.
6.2.3 Under-Shelf Ice Foraging of Weddell Seals
Dominik A. Nachtsheim
1,2,3*
, Christoph Held
1
, Nils
Owsianowski
1
, Joachim Plötz
1
, Richard Steinmetz
1
, Yasuhiko
Naito
4
, Horst Bornemann
1
1
Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polarund Meeresforschung, Am Handelshafen 12, 27570
Bremerhaven, Germany
2
BreMarE – Bremen Marine Ecology, Marine Zoology,
University of Bremen, P.O. Box 330440, 28334 Bremen,
Germany
Appendices
6.1 Call for Abstracts
Marine top predators, such as cetaceans, seals, seabirds and
elasmobranchs, represent an essential part of marine ecosystems. They are generally regarded as sentinels of the sea
since their presence can, for instance, reflect high biological productivity and stabilize marine food webs. Besides
their ecological role, these top predators are also socioeconomically important. Many populations, however,
experience dramatic declines attributed to various human
induced threats (e.g., pollution, climate change), which
highlight the need for effective conservation. This session
invites contributions covering a broad range from fundamental ecological studies over modeling approaches to
conservation issues.
6.2 Abstracts of Oral Presentations
6.2.1 Possible Impacts of Human Pressures
on Seabirds: Insights from Recent Studies
in the North and Baltic Seas
Stefan Garthe
1*
1
Research and Technology Centre (FTZ), Kiel University,
Hafentörn 1, 25761 Büsum, Germany
*invited speaker, corresponding author: garthe@ftz-west.
uni-kiel.de
Keywords: Human Pressure, North Sea, Baltic Sea,
Seabird, Behavior
Humans have made use of sea products since hundreds of
years. But only since the middle of the last century these activities have reached a dimension that impacts natural dynamics
in northwestern European seas, mainly through the industrialization of fisheries and the exploitation of gas and oil resources.
Within the last decade, humans developed many more uses of
the seas, with offshore wind farms possibly being the most
obvious one. Marine animals are thus facing increasing human
pressures. In this talk I will first of all highlight how effects on
seabirds may be investigated. Methods range from well-established seabirds at sea counts to latest developments in microelectronics. In such cases, tags are attached to animals that
collect geographic position and often measure various other
parameters from which animal behavior can be deduced.
Examples for effects of human activities include offshore
wind farms, fisheries, plastic pollution and habitat alteration.
Case studies are presented for the offshore areas and coastal
zones of the North and Baltic Seas which range among the
most intensively used sea areas world-wide.
6.2.2 Drones as a New Tool for Antarctic Wildlife
Monitoring
Marie-Charlott Rümmler
1*
, Jan Esefeld
1
, Osama Mustafa
2
,
Hans-Ulrich Peter
2
1
Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Institute of Ecology,
Dornburger Str. 159, 07743 Jena, Germany
2
ThINK – Thüringer Institut für Nachhaltigkeit und
Klimaschutz, Leutragraben 1, 07743 Jena, Germany
*corresponding author: marie-charlott.ruemmler@unijena.de
Keywords: UAV, Disturbance, Penguins, Seals, Birds
Drones or UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) are a relatively new and rapidly expanding tool for environmental
research, particularly in the Antarctic, where huge datasets of
population censuses are often hard to accomplish due to the
harsh Antarctic conditions. Colonies of breeding birds or
congregations of terrestrial mammals can be difficult to estimate by traditional methods often involving a high level of
disturbance. Drones promise to provide a solution here for
various reasons, but the question of their impact on different
species still remains largely unanswered. During two
Antarctic summer seasons, we accomplished a series of disturbance experiments on various species to gather information on how they react to fly-overs by drones. Analyses of the
first experiments on Adélie and gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis
adeliae/P. papua) revealed a noticeable change in behavior
with approaching UAVs: at about 40 m, gentoo penguins
start to show first reactions to the drone. For Adélie penguins
this distance is further than 50 m. For both species, a strong
increase in impact seems to be caused by a drone flying at
distances of about 20 m, where the disturbance has to be considered severe. We also conducted experiments on the distance of the take-off of our drone and found it to be
sufficiently distant at 30 m for gentoo penguins, but farther
for Adélie penguins. In the second season we extended the
experiments to physiological measurements to get a better
comparison between different disturbance situations by
using heart-beat-measurement devices. Additionally, we
added more species to the experiments, namely skuas
(Catharacta maccormicki/C. antarctica lonnbergii), kelp
gulls (Larus dominicanus), southern giant petrels
(Macronectes giganteus) and Antarctic fur seals
(Arctocephalus gazella). An overview over the results found
in both seasons and the implications of these findings for
monitoring and conservation of Antarctic wildlife will be
presented.
6.2.3 Under-Shelf Ice Foraging of Weddell Seals
Dominik A. Nachtsheim
1,2,3*
, Christoph Held
1
, Nils
Owsianowski
1
, Joachim Plötz
1
, Richard Steinmetz
1
, Yasuhiko
Naito
4
, Horst Bornemann
1
1
Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polarund Meeresforschung, Am Handelshafen 12, 27570
Bremerhaven, Germany
2
BreMarE – Bremen Marine Ecology, Marine Zoology,
University of Bremen, P.O. Box 330440, 28334 Bremen,
Germany
Appendices