The chicks, only three weeks old and still unable to fly, jump from heights of around 40 meters to join their fathers waiting in the water below. Their soft skeletons and extra belly fat cushion the fall, allowing most to survive the plunge. Stora Karlsö, west of Gotland, hosts tens of thousands of breeding pairs of common guillemots and razorbills on its cliff ledges, according to researchers.
The first guillemot was ringed there 110 years ago, and the Baltic Seabird Project has continued the research ever since. Methods have evolved from ringing and binoculars to servers, laptops, live surveillance cameras, and an autonomous solar-powered sailboat that collects fish data with echo sounders, all analyzed with AI. A few years ago, Stora Karlsö and WWF began live streaming the colony online, enabling the public to report observations such as birds fighting or arriving with fish.
Moa Bohm, a research and field assistant since 2021, showed a video where guillemots become agitated and leave their eggs, which are then taken by herring gulls within seconds. Researchers note that guillemots prioritize their own survival over their eggs because they can live over 48 years and have many breeding opportunities. During the pandemic, breeding success was worse than usual as white-tailed eagles visited the island when tourists were absent.
In 2023, the live stream added audio, capturing specific calls chicks use to find their fathers at sea, according to Jessica Ångström, species expert at WWF. AI models are being trained to identify and group different bird sounds, revealing communication about fish arrival and individual chick voices, said Delia Fano Yela and John Martinsson at Rise. The exact survival rate of chicks after the jump and how many reunite with their fathers remain unclear, and the specific AI techniques for sound and fish data analysis have not been detailed.
The island's seabird colonies have been studied for over a century, with researchers now combining traditional observation with cutting-edge technology to understand population dynamics. The autonomous sailboat, equipped with echo sounders, maps fish distribution around the island, providing crucial data on prey availability for the birds. Live surveillance cameras, positioned on the cliffs, capture high-resolution footage that is analyzed by AI algorithms to track individual birds and their behaviors.
Public engagement through the live stream has grown, with viewers from around the world contributing to data collection by noting events like egg predation or chick departures. The audio analysis project, a collaboration between WWF and Rise, aims to decode the complex vocalizations of guillemots, potentially revealing how parents and chicks recognize each other in dense colonies. Researchers hope that by understanding these communication patterns, they can better assess the impacts of environmental changes on breeding success.
The long-term dataset from Stora Karlsö, spanning over a century, provides a unique window into the effects of climate change and human disturbance on seabird populations. The integration of AI and citizen science is seen as a model for modern ecological monitoring, allowing for continuous, non-invasive observation of wildlife. Despite the technological advances, many mysteries remain, such as the precise cues that trigger the chicks' leap and the factors that determine their survival at sea.
The ongoing research on Stora Karlsö continues to shed light on the remarkable adaptations of these seabirds and the challenges they face in a changing world.