Following the success of our first mission led in the Istanbul Strait in February 2024, where thirty Yelkouan shearwaters could be successfully tagged with GPS/GSM transmitters using a unique method at sea, a second mission was organized in October 2025 aiming to continue to better understand the migratory movements of this vulnerable seabird.
Track their movements in real time on this interactive map:
Viewing on a computer screen is recommended. From your phone, zoom out the web page for better browsing. The resolution can be increased/descreased by modify the step value in the URL bar. By default, step=5 shows one out of every five data points for faster page loading.
(tracked from the Istanbul Strait)
Tracking birds at different times of the year is likely to reveal variations in their habitat use and spatial behavior. In contrast to February (see 2024 tracking), October is among the months with the lowest bird counts in the Strait. For breeders, this corresponds to the initial return to their nesting sites ahead of mating. Conducting tracking during this period could therefore help confirm known breeding sites and potentially identify previously unknown ones.
This study has been conducted through a collaborative effort involving:
CIESM
Dr Loriane Mendez
TUDAV / Faculty of Aquatic Science, Istanbul University
Dr Ayaka Amaha Ozturk
Prof Bayram Ozturk
Assoc. Prof Arda M. Tonay
Inst. of Env. Sciences, Bogazici University
Dr Rasit Bilgin
Marine Research Station “Prof. Dr. Ioan Borcea” Agigea
Dr Emanuel Ștefan Baltag
Inst. of Biology, Bucharest
Viorel Dumitru Gavril
Independant researcher:
Dr Benjamin Metzger
Acknowledgements: Asaf Ertan for his implication to replicate his method to capture Yelkouan Shearwaters; Aylin Güler, Onur Akyüz, Alara Kaplanoğlu, Sercan Bilgin, Dilek Geçit, Ergün Bacak, Selim Ramazanoğlu and Captain Can Hoşgör for their precious help on board.