Seabird Soundscapes

Why am I being asked to classify seabird sounds?

We collected over 200 gigabytes of audio data from seabirds during their foraging trips at sea. These files correspond to over 2,000 hours of continuous seabird sounds! Manual sound analysis can be very laborious and time-consuming, hence why we need your help to do this! Thanks so much for being a citizen-scientist in our project. We really appreciate your help!

Why are at-sea seabird sounds important?

At-sea seabird behaviour remains largely a mystery, given how mobile and elusive these animals are in the vast oceans. With the help of small animal-borne gadgets such as miniaturised sound recorders and GPS trackers, we’ve been able to collect acoustic and movement data from seabirds containing information about their activities and whereabouts at sea. From flights and plunge-dives to vocalisations and social interactions with other individuals, the data we obtained can help us to identify behaviours and pinpoint their geographic locations, enabling to refine existing occurrence and distribution information, as well as potential areas for conflict with fisheries.

How does your support fit into the bigger picture of seabird scientific research?

Seabird soundscapes remain underexplored outside of nesting sites, highlighting the importance and the potential of at-sea acoustic surveying to fill in the knowledge gaps about seabird ecology and behaviour at sea. We hope the Seabird Soundscapes project will help refine our knowledge about seabird social interactions and communication during foraging. Acoustic tracking of seabirds at sea can also be used to detect human activity such as fisheries and provide valuable information on how seabirds respond to the presence of fishing vessels. This type of information has particular relevance to seabird conservation as it can help identify areas where fisheries and seabird foraging overlap, and thus inform policy to support both seabird protection and marine resources management.

Do I have to be a seabird expert to be able to classify seabird sounds correctly?

No. Generally, seabirds produce distinct sounds which can be identified and distinguished from one another easily by listening and visually analysing spectrograms. Some sounds, such as mechanical sounds can be hard to tell apart from other human-made sounds and noises. If you are unsure about a sound, then please leave your question at the Help section of TALK.

What different types of sounds are there in seabird soundscapes?

Seabirds are very vocal and noisy creatures! They use vocalisations to communicate and produce other sounds as they fly, eat and engage with a variety of activities such as interactions with other organisms or even with fisheries! This way, seabird soundscapes are rich in information and can reveal a lot about the natural lives of seabirds when they are out of sight of land.

Are there sounds of different species of birds in the recordings?

Yes. You will probably be able to notice seabird vocalisations of different species (e.g. gulls and fulmars). If that’s the case when you’re classifying sounds, then just pick one of the first two options in the 'TASK' choices tab of CLASSIFY.

Why is there so much noise in some of the recordings?

The bird-borne sound recording tags were encapsulated within a thin plastic sleeve for waterproofing. As the birds moved, the contact between feathers and the plastic sleeve created friction noise. Sometimes birds also pecked on the tags, creating loud tapping noises!