Observations of Antarctic Seabird Distribution

During winter break between 2024 and 2025, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend a unique, brief study abroad course on a cruise ship from Argentina to Antarctica, through the Drake Passage, Beagle Channel, and South Shetland islands.

Our small class group was divided into three teams, and having recently adopted birdwatching as a hobby, I was placed on a team tasked with identifying and counting all the species of birds we encountered during the trip.

My team and I collected data in eBird checklists at a large number of points along our boat journey. The semester following the trip, I presented my data at my university’s Showcase for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities. I used Excel to analyze and plot my data. What I found was far from groundbreaking - species distribution trends I observed matched well with expected trends.

Regardless of the unsurprising results, this project made for an extremely interesting extracurricular activity, especially as a mechanical engineering student. Biology has always been a major interest of mine, to almost the same extent as engineering, so getting the opportunity to gather real data for a project such as this was something I had always wanted to do, and hope to do again.

For a more extensive outline of my project, background, and methods, check out my poster presentation:

Some Photos I took of birds in the Drake Passage:

Map of my seabird observation locations