| Summary: | Environmental Science Undergraduate Honours Thesis An understanding of animal movements contributes important knowledge on the spatial and temporal distribution of these animals. In particular, research on the distribution of seabirds, which are important ecological indicators, can provide new insights and understanding of the physical and biological aspects of the marine environment. Information on distribution can also be used to delineate marine protected areas and oil spill response strategies. Black Guillemots (Cepphus grylle) are particularly susceptible to various threats in the marine environment such as vessel disturbance, tidal energy development and oil spills due to their drifting and diving foraging behaviour. As tidal energy development and oil exploration increase, the effects on Black Guillemots may go unobserved due to our limited understanding of their at-sea distribution. Little is known about Black Guillemot distribution in Atlantic Canada, particularly in the winter (nonbreeding) season. To examine the winter distribution Black Guillemots, Global Location Sensing (GLS) tags were deployed and recovered on seven individuals at two breeding colonies in Nova Scotia, Canada, and New Brunswick, Canada, during 2017-2018. Guillemots dispersed from breeding colonies throughout the region (Scotian shelf, Gulf of St. Lawrence, Bay of Fundy, Gulf of Maine) with both populations overlapping in the Bay of Fundy. Most bird locations (82%) were associated with the continental shelf, with 8% associated with pelagic waters and 10% associated with the shelf break (25 km buffer around the 200 m shelf break). Birds moved an average of 167 km from colony and 70 km from shore, with maximum offshore distances of 470 km and maximum depths of 4830 m. The application of GLS tagging methods on Black Guillemots enhances our ability to examine seabird distribution and to use seabirds as ecological indicators of the marine environment. Key words: Black Guillemot, Cepphus grylle, distribution, geolocator, migration, seabird tracking
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