New Seabird Monitoring Cameras Installed

14 May 2024

Conservation

Working in partnership with Seabird Watch, new technology is being incorporated into seabird monitoring methods

This past week Conservation research partners Dr. Tom Hart and Laure Cugnière, from Oxford Brookes University visited Ascension as part of the Darwin Plus funded project: “A cross-UKOT camera network to enhance marine predator conservation.” Hart and Cugnière represent ‘Seabird Watch’ which uses remote camera technology and citizen science to monitor seabirds in remote locations worldwide.
As part of the

Darwin project, new cameras have been installed in two locations. One camera is on one of the mountain road bends, facing cliffs used by nesting fairy terns. The second camera is set up on Razor’s Edge looking towards Boatswain Bird Island Sanctuary. These solar-powered cameras capture a photo every hour during the day.

This technology enables the monitoring of large numbers of seabirds with minimal disturbance. The images collected from these cameras can be used to assess population numbers and breeding success. The project aims to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to process image data quickly and accurately.