NMMU team researching Marion Island bird decline

[caption id="attachment_34198" align="alignright" width="405"] CHIPPING AWAY: Dr Pierre Pistorius, right, and zoology honours student Makabongwe Sigqala implant microchips into macaroni penguins on Marion Island[/caption]

A TEAM from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University has returned from a five-week research trip to Marion Island, where there is an ongoing trend of declining numbers of seabirds that breed on the island.

It was the second trip to the island for the newly-built Agulhas II research vessel, which once a year, during a relief voyage, picks up the research team that "over-wintered" on the island and drops off a new team with new supplies.

NMMU students form part of these teams: masters student Tegan Carpenter-King has been researching the foraging distribution, diet and breeding success of gentoo penguins while honours student Makabongwe Sigqala has been doing research on burrowing seabirds.

Included in the new team is MSc graduate David Green, who will be monitoring and researching various seabird species over the next year. - Nicky Willemse