Credit: Lilian Lieber, Queen's University Belfast
The foraging behaviour of seabirds is dramatically affected by turbulence caused by natural coastal features and manmade ocean structures, new research has shown.
In a first-of-its-kind study, scientists from the UK and Germany used drones to provide a synchronised bird's eye view of what seabirds see and how their behaviour changes depending on the movement of tidal flows beneath them.
The research focused on the wake of a tidal turbine structure set in a tidal channel - Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland - that has previously been identified as a foraging hotspot for terns.