100% Locally Owned, Independent and Free

100% Locally Owned, Independent and Free

Aspiring scientist leads team of bird watchers during month-long sea trek

Do you have a news tip? Click here to send to our news team.

Survey seeks a name for new city centre suburb

Residents of a booming estate are being asked to come up with a name for a new suburb that will include its emerging city More

Bargain shop name to vanish as part of national rebrand

A discount store chain with multiple locations on the Sunshine Coast is set to be renamed after it was acquired by an international retailer More

‘Slower pace’: plans lodged for rural tourism cabins

An application has been lodged to build cabins as part of a nature-based tourism development on a rural property. The proposal seeks to build two More

Photo of the day: stormy sunrise

'Greals' captured this stormy sunrise at Coes Creek. If you have a photo of the day offering, email photo@sunshinecoastnews.com.au. Photos must be horizontal/landscape and may More

‘Suicide Hill’: safety probe launched at junction

Sunshine Coast Council is investigating further safety fixes at a notorious intersection that one resident says is like “Russian roulette” to cross. Local Kerry McLean More

MP urged to reject tourist park after agency response

A state planning agency has raised significant concerns about a proposed tourist park near the Pumicestone Passage, sparking an outcry from a coalition of More

USC Animal Ecology student Bianca Keys of Caloundra has completed a voyage of a lifetime, helping to map the abundance and distribution of seabirds in the North Tasman and South Coral seas.

In a month-long expedition aboard Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel Falkor, Bianca led a team of student observers in identifying more than 3300 seabirds.

The final-year student, who overcame seasickness and rough seas to work as a volunteer scientist with BirdLife Australia on the ‘Seafloor to Seabirds’ voyage, said it was a brilliant experience.

“Ever since I started to have a passion for seabirds, I have wanted to observe them in their natural habitat,” said Bianca, who left her job as a mortgage broking assistant to enrol at USC to follow her passion in animal conservation.

“An expedition at sea was the perfect way to achieve this as it offered an incredible first-hand opportunity to gain valuable skills in seabird identification and behaviour.”

The four-week voyage was not without its challenges.”

Bianca Keys and and fellow student Francisco Gelves enjoyed a month-long journey.

“While I have experience in terrestrial bird surveys, it is very different to identify seabirds when dealing with the lively and ever-changing nature of the sea,” Bianca said.

“I had to cope with the rolling of the ship, the harsh sun and wind conditions and even seasickness, especially when sailing for the first time.”

Once the vessel left the Port of Brisbane on February 6, Bianca and her colleagues worked from sunrise to sunset surveying seabirds and monitoring the water for debris and marine mammals.

Each observation was logged, and details were recorded about the species, total count, behaviours, and other observations that may provide a better understanding of seabirds, their relationships with other features of the ocean and the impact of humans on marine environments.

Help keep independent and fair Sunshine Coast news coming by subscribing to our free daily news feed. All it requires is your name and email. See SUBSCRIBE at the top of this article. 

“One of the highlights from this experience was learning the many different species of marine birds – some of these would never be encountered unless you are on a sea voyage, a remote coral reef or an island,” Bianca said.

Under the guidance of onshore Principal Investigator Dr Eric Woehler, from the University of Tasmania, Bianca trained and supervised other student observers, including USC PhD student and sessional academic Francisco Gelves-Gomez, who is from Colombia.

Red footed boobies perched on board their vessel. Picture: Bianca Keys.

Francisco also assisted with other key aims of the expedition, which involved mapping underwater landscapes in the Coral Sea, collecting marine magnetic data and filtering seawater to investigate microplastic contamination.

The data collected will contribute to the Nippon Foundation-GEBCO global initiative to map the world’s seafloor by 2030.

Since arriving back on land, Bianca has returned to classes at USC’s Sunshine Coast campus and to her role as a research assistant on the “Valuing the Sunshine Coast’s Natural Assets” project, a collaboration between USC and Sunshine Coast Council.

Once she completes her degree at the end of this semester, Bianca plans to begin honours at Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies as a stepping stone into a PhD in marine science and ornithology.

Subscribe to SCN’s free daily news email

This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
[scn_go_back_button] Return Home
Share