Stressed shearwaters and anxious albatrosses – life lessons from seabirds
All animals get stressed. It’s an important survival mechanism, but as our climate warms, animals are being subjected to stress at unprecedented levels. For marine animals that rely on Aotearoa’s waters to raise their young, climate stress is forcing them to make hard decisions.
In this talk, Brendon, a marine biologist, will use tītī/sooty shearwaters (aka muttonbirds) as a vehicle to discuss what we know, what we don’t know, and what we really need to know as we seek to save seabirds from a rapidly warming planet. The stories from our shearwaters tell us not only about the state of our ecosystems in Aotearoa – the seabird capital of the world – but hold lessons for our own lives as we navigate a future of rapid change.
Bio
Dr Brendon Dunphy considers himself lucky to have grown up on the shores of Tīkapa Moana/Te Moananui-ā-Toi (Hauraki Gulf). This left him with a desire to pass on a healthy ocean for all our grandchildren. Accordingly, Brendon is now a marine biologist and Senior Lecturer in Biological Sciences. His research utilises stress physiology to listen to what marine animals are telling us about their homes and to predict what the future may hold.
Event
6:30pm @16 Tun, 10/26 Jellicoe Street, Auckland 1010
Also speaking at this location at 8:00pm is Mark Henaghan
