About eight times a year, an intrepid band of birdwatchers heads out on a boat from Mooloolaba to the continental shelf some 30 miles offshore.
A great variety of seabirds inhabits this area. At Friday Environment Forum on February 11, Professor Richard Fuller from the University of Queensland will consider their diversity and life histories.
“The migrations of some species connect the Sunshine Coast with locations as far away as Antarctica and the northern Pacific,” Professor Fuller said.
“We’ll meet some of the cast of characters involved, from the Tahiti Petrel to the Short-tailed Shearwater and the Antarctic Prion.”
Declines in several species point to environmental changes happening in the oceans, so the threats to seabird populations in this part of the world will be considered, and what conservation actions need to be taken to reverse them.
Professor Fuller hopes to leave attendees with a renewed sense of wonder about seabirds, and perhaps a desire to get out there one day and see some of these spectacular ocean wanderers for yourself.
Come along to the Noosa Parks Association Environment Centre, 5 Wallace Drive Noosaville where the forum starts at 10.30am and coffee is available at 10am. Covid-19 protocols will be in place and attendees need to be double vaccinated and wear masks.
Pre-registration is required. Visit noosaparks.org.au/friday-environment-forum/ for the registration link.
Join the bird observers at 8.30am in the carpark for interpretive birding.
