Stellwagen Sanctuary Seabird Stewards (S4)

In FY18, volunteers at Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary (SBNMS) contributed 6,620 hours in support of our science and research mission at the sanctuary. SBNMS Volunteer Program Coordinator, Anne-Marie Runfola organized five standardized seabird data collection cruises on the R/V Auk, and 32 collection trips on whale watch vessels. 62 volunteers and the Director of Important Bird Areas at Mass Audubon, Wayne Petersen, joined our staff to record 40,000 sightings this year (wildlife, vessels and marine debris), for a program total of more than 250,000 sightings since the 2011 pilot program. The S4 data has been incorporated into the sanctuary’s Condition Report to help determine sanctuary biodiversity, species richness, state of the birds and future trends. The Condition Report will be made available to AMBCC as soon as it’s completed. Last year, MassAudubon honored SBNMS as Heroes in their 2017 State of the Birds report for the S4 program and other sanctuary work in research, policy, management and education/outreach: https://www.massaudubon.org/content/download/21633/304821/file/mass-audubon_state-of-the-birds-2017-report.pdf

Contact: Anne-Marie Runfola, Stellwagen bank NMS, Anne-Marie.Runfola@noaa.gov