Dr A.M.T. Labbé
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amtlabbe.bsky.social
Dr A.M.T. Labbé
@amtlabbe.bsky.social
610 followers 690 following 51 posts
Marine ornithologist. Southern Hemisphere. 🇦🇺🇷🇪🇲🇫 WASCN- Western Australian Seabird Conservation Network Inc.
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Reposted by Dr A.M.T. Labbé
In summary, the outlook is grim. It is highly likely that Thwaites Glacier will eventually be lost, which will destabilise adjoining parts of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, increasing the committed long-term rise in global mean sea level by more than 3 m.
Reposted by Dr A.M.T. Labbé
I'm excited to finally have a preprint of this paper up, a few years in the making.

In it we argue that industry-driven manipulation of social media research is well underway and that norms and institutions in the field are ill-prepared to resist tech's influence.

arxiv.org/abs/2510.19894
Reposted by Dr A.M.T. Labbé
H5 strain of bird flu on Heard Island? Samples are yet to be tested. "The majority of mortalities were detected in elephant seal pups and in a small number of adults." — Dr Julie McInnes, wildlife ecologist with AAD and @imas-utas.bsky.social

▶️ www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...

📸 Matt Curnock
Reposted by Dr A.M.T. Labbé
"The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) has received reports of groups of dead black vultures across the state, with preliminary testing indicating that the likely cause is Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), also called bird flu."

(wric.com)

#collapse
Reposted by Dr A.M.T. Labbé
This is what Adélie penguins attempting to nest on ice looks like. They aren’t supposed to do that.
🌎🧪🦑🦉

ACA 2019-006
Reposted by Dr A.M.T. Labbé
The study “Tracking HPAIV H5 through a geographic survey of Antarctic seabird populations” surveyed 13 breeding sites in the Antarctic from Dec 2023–Jan 2024. Findings suggest the first suspected HPAI H5 cases on the continent, potentially in two new seabird species. bit.ly/4pkI4Aa
Reposted by Dr A.M.T. Labbé
We suggest that daily carcass removal may have kept environmental transmission at bay, and that increased immunity and/or a change of the strain of HPAI may have caused the drop in mortality among the outbreak years.
Reposted by Dr A.M.T. Labbé
Pretty freaking wild to hear "actually AI is useful for climate change" constantly and from people who should know better when the people deciding how the massive resources it consumes are used are saying stuff like this
Oh good, ChatGPT is getting "erotica for verified adults" later this year
Reposted by Dr A.M.T. Labbé
If you’re in Australia, report your #BeachedBird observations here (especially important over the next 4-6 weeks) adriftlab.org/beached-bird...
Beached bird reports
adriftlab.org
Reposted by Dr A.M.T. Labbé
A passenger aboard the ‘Spirit of #Tasmania’ recorded this video yesterday as the ferry entered the #BassStrait

The seas were ~6 m & wind gusting ~75 km/hr. It is glorious to see flocks of Short-tailed #Shearwaters (just returned from the Bering Sea) absolutely in their element 🐦💨
So disappointing 😞 and yet not surprising.
Reposted by Dr A.M.T. Labbé
🪹 | Seabirds that survived recent bird flu outbreaks have continued to reproduce, although overall breeding performance remains notably low, according to a new study.

The study has looked at breeding success in Northern Gannets at two locations during 2023.

🔗 orlo.uk/44CaS

📸 Dave Pressland
Reposted by Dr A.M.T. Labbé
#birds#birdingwales Gannets again today at Ynysbadrig, now 20 young remaining. Richard Arnold and I reckon 13 have left, this equals the total we think for last year, so this small but thriving recent second Wales colony seems to be established despite the ravages of HPAI.
Reposted by Dr A.M.T. Labbé
We have vacancies available on our committee! 🕊️👨‍👨‍👧👩‍👩‍👦

We are recruiting for 5 roles:

Secretary 👩‍🏫
Assistant Journal Editor 📉
Social Media Lead 🤳
Assistant Newsletter/ Social Media Support 🤝
Website Officer 🧑‍💻

Feel free to DM for details & email [email protected] to apply (deadline 31 Oct) 📥
Reposted by Dr A.M.T. Labbé
Multiple species of #shearwater have begun arriving in Australian waters after completing their southward migration. We need your help recording if/when #seabirds start washing up on your local beaches #citizenscience
Reposted by Dr A.M.T. Labbé
Another #superseabirdsunday and now it's almost the end of the field season... This is a juvenile captured in a burrow who will probably fledge in the next couple of days.
On Channel Tern
Crested tern breeding season now playing.
#seabirds
Crested tern breeding season now playing.
#seabirds
Reposted by Dr A.M.T. Labbé
Reposted by Dr A.M.T. Labbé
It’s a wrap! In only 5 days, we collected 82 feather & 24 blood samples, plus 12 plastic samples & completed 15 transects to estimate abundance. Stay tuned for new data on five species of poorly understood #SouthPacific #seabirds
Reposted by Dr A.M.T. Labbé
Progress continues with the new PolarWx tropical page — the “models” tab for each storm has been redesigned for easier browsing of past runs, with a new section for viewing forecast track & intensity trends for each model:

polarwx.com/tropical
Reposted by Dr A.M.T. Labbé
It's family values day here at Team Hākoakoa. You'll struggle to find a bird more devoted to its chicks than Skua. Just look at that fuzzy brown face. How could you not vote Skua for #birdoftheyear2025? #Skua @forestandbird.bsky.social