ADU travels, expeditions and events

Photo Les Underhill		The Steering Committee for the Top Predators' Project of the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME) Programme spent the week 5-9 March wrapping up this three-year project. The ADU component of the final report is listed below.
Photo Les Underhill		While we were meeting inside, the Great White Pelicans were waiting on the lamp posts outside ...
Photo Les Underhill		... waiting for some fishermen to arrive to clean their fish ...
Photo Les Underhill		... and after they had dealt with the offal, they really needed to go down to the sea to use a beakbrush.
Photo Les Underhill		After the formalities, we made an excursion to Pelican Point, the sandspit that forms a natural breakwater for the port of Walvis Bay. The Pelican Point lighthouse ought to be at the tip of the point, but the sandspit is growing by a few metres every year, and the lighthouse is now about a kilometre from the end point.
Photo Les Underhill		The excursion had a genuine scientific purpose - it was to check whether the Cape Fur Seal colony at Pelican Point had graduated from becoming a haul out for mostly young male seals to becoming a breeding colony. We observed very few female seals, and no pups.
Photo Les Underhill		We found a small flock of African Oystercatchers, and were surprised to observe one Eurasian Oystercatcher in it. Eurasian Oystercatchers are increasingly frequently observed at Walvis Bay.
Photo Les Underhill		Around lunchtime on Friday, we took the one hour flight in the small Namib Air plane that does the milkrun from Windhoek to Cape Town, stopping at Walvis Bay, Lüderitz and Oranjemund.
Photo Les Underhill		Fieldwork here is in the diamond mining area, and I am grateful to Namdeb for arranging access, and especially for its assistance to the ADU MSc student working on Damara Terns within the Sperrgebiet. Besides the existing mines, there are mines from the 1920s and 1930s, which are slowly disintegrating in the harsh desert environment.
Photo Les Underhill		The MSc student Justine Braby peers through the window of an old house in the former mining village. This was in the era of German miners, and the story goes that one lovesick miner painted ...
Photo Les Underhill		... this picture on the wall of his room, took a photograph of it, and sent it back to his sweetheart in Germany to try to entice her to join him in the desert ...
Photo Les Underhill		... but the reality is very different - spot the two Damara Terns on the dry barren saltpan on which this species breeds in incredibly inhospitable conditions. Damara Terns breed substantial distances from the shoreline, presumably to avoid predation by jackals, which patrol the intertidal region nightly to search for anything edible that is washed up onto the beaches - mainly dead seals and dead seabirds.
Photo Les Underhill		But the desert is extraordinarily beautiful, and the rewards are great for those who persevere there. Here is a small flock of Greater Flamingos, presumably on migration along the desert coastline between their breeding areas in the interior of Namibia and Botswana, to wetlands such as Langebaan Lagoon in the Western Cape.
Photo Les Underhill		Justine's project involves an investigation of whether the feeding success of Damara Terns is impacted by the discharge of fine sediment from the Elizabeth Bay diamond mine into the sea. The sediment forms a brown plume, and as it disperses, the seawater over quite a large area is quite murky. Damara Terns feed mainly in and immediately behind the breaker zone and need crystal clear water to see their fish prey. The number of pairs of terns breeding on the dry salt pan nearby has decreased in recent years, and Justine is, at the request of Namdeb, investigating the problem, with a view to implementing whatever mitigation measures are shown to be feasible.

Papers with an ADU component in the BCLME Top Predators' Project Report

The content of the final report of the Top Predator's Project of the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem Programme was finalized at the Steering Committee meeting in Swakopmund. The report is entitled:
Kirkman SP (ed.) 2007. Final Report of BCLME (Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem) Project on Top Predators as Biological Indicators of Ecosystem Change in the BCLME. Avian Demography Unit, Cape Town.
Individual papers with an ADU component are listed below; pdfs are available:

Collation of time series

Time series of data for Cape Fur Seals in the BCLME. SP Kirkman

Report on the availability and quality of seabird information in Namibia and South Africa. J Kemper and RJM Crawford

Cape Fur Seal

Making sense of censuses and dealing with missing data: trends in pup counts of Cape Fur Seal Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus for the period 1972-2004. SP Kirkman, WH Oosthuizen, MA Meÿer, PGH Kotze, J-P Roux, LG Underhill

Ecological responses of Cape Fur Seals in South Africa to temporal shifts in pelagic prey availability. SP Kirkman, WH Oosthuizen, MA Meÿer, PGH Kotze, M Boucher, LG Underhill

African Penguin

The African Penguin Sphensiscus demersus: population estimates, trends, adult survival and age structure from molt and nest counts. J Kemper, J-P Roux, PA Bartlett, YJ Chesselet, J-A Delport, JAC James, R Jones, LG Underhill, N-N Uhongora, S Wepener

Estimating African Penguin population size: a comparison of census techniques. J Kemper

Regionally coherent trends in colonies of African Penguins Spheniscus demersus in the Western Cape, South Africa, 1987-2005. LG Underhill, RJM Crawford, AC Wolfaardt, PA Whittington, BM Dyer, TM Leshoro, M Ruthenburg, L Upfold, J Visagie

Breeding patterns and factors influencing breeding success of African Penguins Spheniscus demersus in Namibia. J Kemper, LG Underhill, J-P Roux, PA Bartlett, YJ Chesselet, JAC James, R Jones, N-N Uhongora, S Wepener

Artificial burrows for African penguins on Halifax Island, Namibia: do they improve breeding success? J Kemper, LG Underhill, J-P Roux

The influence of food availability on breeding success of African Penguins Spheniscus demersus at Robben Island, South Africa. RJM Crawford, P Barham, LG Underhill, LJ Shannon, JC Coetzee, BM Dyer, TM Leshoro, L Upfold

Effect of age and breeding status on molt phenology of adult African Penguins Spheniscus demersus in Namibia. J Kemper, J-P Roux, LG Underhill

Energy budget of African Penguin Spheniscus demersus chicks. S Bouwhuis, GH Visser, LG Underhill

Great White Pelican

Is predation on seabirds a new foraging behaviour for Great White Pelicans? History, foraging strategies and prey defensive responses. M de Ponte Machado

Cape Gannet

Trends in numbers of Cape Gannets (Morus capensis), 1956/1957-2005/2006, with a consideration of the influence of food and other factors. RJM Crawford, BL Dundee, BM Dyer, NTW Klages, MA Meÿer, L Upfold

Breeding in a dynamic system: intra- and inter-seasonal variability in foraging behaviour and chick growth of Cape Gannets. RHE Mullers, RA Navarro RA, LG Underhill LG, GH Visser

Cormorants

Trends in numbers of Cape Cormorants (Phalacrocorax capensis) over a 50-year period, 1956/57-2006/07. RJM Crawford, BM Dyer, J Kemper, RE Simmons, L Upfold, F vaz Velho

Trends in numbers of three cormorants Phalacrocorax spp. breeding in South Africa's Western Cape Province. RJM Crawford

Kelp Gull

The influence of culling, predation and food on Kelp Gulls Larus dominicanus off western South Africa. RJM Crawford, LG Underhill, R Altwegg, BM Dyer, L Upfold

Geographic variation in reproduction and survival of Kelp Gulls Larus dominicanus vetula in southern Africa. R Altwegg, RJM Crawford, LG Underhill, AP Martin, PA Whittington

Prefledging energetics of Kelp Gull (Larus dominicanus vetula) chicks in a warm environment. GH Visser, T Bakker, KM Tjørve, LG Underhill

Primary moult of the Kelp Gull Larus dominicanus vetula in the Western Cape, South Africa. VL Ward, HD Oschadleus, LG Underhill

Other seabirds

Population estimates and trends of seabird species breeding in Namibia. J Kemper

Trends in numbers of Leach's Storm Petrel, Hartlaub's Gull and Swift and Roseate Terns breeding in South Africa. RJM Crawford, PA Whittington, BM Dyer, L Upfold

Colonial waterbirds

The development of the heronry on Robben Island, Western Cape, South Africa, 1980-2005. LG Underhill, RJM Crawford, DM Harebottle, KMC Tjørve

Influence of environment and fish stocks on trends in top predators

Food, fishing and seabirds in the Benguela upwelling system. RJM Crawford

Influences of the abundance and distribution of prey on African Penguins Spheniscus demersus off western South Africa. RJM Crawford, LG Underhill, JC Coetzee, T Fairweather, LJ Shannon, AC Wolfaardt

Implications for seabirds of an unfavourable, long-term change in the distribution of prey: a South African experience. RJM Crawford, T Fairweather, LG Underhill, AC Wolfaardt

An altered carrying capacity of the Benguela upwelling system for African Penguins (Spheniscus demersus). RJM Crawford, LG Underhill, L Upfold, BM Dyer

The efficacy of hand-rearing penguin chicks: evidence from African Penguins (Spheniscus demersus) orphaned in the Treasure oil spill in 2000. PJ Barham, LG Underhill, RJM Crawford, R Altwegg, TM Leshoro, DA Bolton, BM Dyer, L Upfold

Impact of predation by Cape Fur Seals Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus on Cape Gannets Morus capensis at Malgas Island, Western Cape, South Africa. AB Makhado, RJM Crawford, LG Underhill

Management of avian cholera Pasteurella multocida outbreaks on Dyer Island, South Africa, 2002-2005. LJ Waller, LG Underhill

Predators as indicators

Can seal diet predict future catches of commercial prey? S Mecenero, J-O Krakstad, J-P Roux, LG Underhill

Indexing the availability of anchovy and sardine to seabird predators in the southern Benguela ecosystem. LG Underhill, RJM Crawford

The status of seals and seabirds in the BCLME

Revision of the conservation status of seabirds and seals breeding in the Benguela Ecosystem. J Kemper, LG Underhill, RJM Crawford, SP Kirkman

Comparison of seabirds in the Benguela and the Humboldt LMEs

Comparison of assemblages and some life-history traits of seabirds in the Humboldt and Benguela systems. RJM Crawford, E Goya, J-P Roux, CB Zavalaga

Capacity building

Collation of training inputs undertaken within the BCLME Top Predators Project. LG Underhill

Time Series Analysis Course, 24-26 May 2005, Lüderitz, Namibia. J Kemper

Monitoring recommendations

Recommendations for a regional monitoring programme for Cape Fur Seals in the BCLME. SP Kirkman

Monitoring seabirds in the BCLME: monitoring objectives, priorities and recommendations. J Kemper

Annexes

Manual of methods for monitoring Cape fur seals in the BCLME. SP Kirkman (editor).

Monitoring seabirds in the BCLME: data collection manual. J Kemper.

Les Underhill
18 July 2002