CHAPTER 1
Introduction to the World’s Seabirds
Past Knowledge and New Revelations
I remember, at a recent international conference, a seasoned researcher
receiving a medal celebrating her distinguished career in seabird re-
search. Her cheeks had the sheen of a farmer’s, well- polished and apple-
red from exposure to the Scottish wind. She recounted how she had sat
atop the islet of Ailsa Craig during her earlier doctoral studies and won-
dered where the gannets, nesting on that granite lump in the Firth of
Clyde, went when they flew beyond the horizon. She had no idea, and
nor then did anyone else.
But now, increasingly, they do. Modern electronics are revolutionising
our knowledge of the activities of seabirds at sea. Just as mobile phones