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<TITLE>SEANET and Common eider die-offs</TITLE>
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<P DIR=LTR><B><U><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></U><U><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></U><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=5>SEANET and Common Eider Die-offs</FONT></SPAN></B></P>
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<P DIR=LTR><B><U><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></U></B><U><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></U><U><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></U><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us">This fall, as in years past, the bodies of dead Common Eider,</SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> large black and</SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> white sea ducks, can be found littering the tide line of local beaches. This phenomenon has been recorded since the 1950s, but scientists are only</SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> recently</SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> starting to study and understand the factors behind these deaths.</SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> While Common Eider populations are still considered high, there is some evidence that their numbers are dropping. It is unknown if these annual die-offs reflect a larger problem.</SPAN></P>
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<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">Much of this work has been done through The Seabird Ecological Assessment Network (SEANET), based at the Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. SEANET is an ongoing project assessing seabird mortality along the eastern seaboard of the United States. Its goals are to pinpoint threats to marine bird populations, work collaboratively to alleviate those threats, engage the public in ocean research and conservation, and understand what seabirds can tell us about the state of our oceans. SEANET depends on a network of volunteers along the Atlantic coast; over 100 citizen scientists volunteer to walk an assigned stretch of beach once or twice a month, record environmental data and report both dead and live birds seen on the beach. </FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><I></I></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><I></I></SPAN><I><SPAN LANG="en"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">New volunteers are always welcomed.</FONT></SPAN></I><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman"> </FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT FACE="Times New Roman">For more information on SEANET, see</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> </SPAN><A HREF="http://seanetters.wordpress.com/"><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman">http://seanetters.wordpress.com/</FONT></U></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
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<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">Drs. Julie Ellis and Sarah Courchesne from SEANET will be at Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary on Saturday, December 5, at 2:00pm to talk about the SEANET program, meet current and prospective Cape volunteers, and present their latest findings on the eider die-offs.</FONT></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT FACE="Times New Roman"> This program is FREE and open to the public. </FONT></SPAN></P>
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<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">At 1:00pm that same afternoon there will be a special showing of the film</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B> <FONT FACE="Times New Roman">The Dark Side of the Loon</FONT></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">, which</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><BR>
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</SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">highlights issues facing loons on their coastal wintering grounds. As part of Wellfleet Bay’s Winter Lecture</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><BR>
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</SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">Series, the film is free with sanctuary admission. Call</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B> <FONT FACE="Times New Roman">508-349-2615</FONT></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT FACE="Times New Roman">for more information</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
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<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Cynthia Franklin</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Volunteer Coordinator</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri"> </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Mass Audubon/Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">PO Box 236</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">South Wellfleet, MA 02663</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">508-349-2615 x 101; fax 508-349-2632</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">email:</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> </SPAN><A HREF="mailto:cfranklin@massaudubon.org"><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><U></U></SPAN><U><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></U><U><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">cfranklin@massaudubon.org</FONT></SPAN></U><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">website:</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> </SPAN><A HREF="http://www.massaudubon.org"><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><U></U></SPAN><U><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></U><U><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">www.massaudubon.org</FONT></SPAN></U><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">news blog:</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> </SPAN><A HREF="http://massaudubonblogs.typepad.com/wellfleetbaynews/"><SPAN LANG="en-us"><U></U></SPAN><U><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></U><U><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Calibri">http://massaudubonblogs.typepad.com/wellfleetbaynews/</FONT></SPAN></U><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><I></I></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><I></I></SPAN><I><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></I><I><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Protecting the Nature of Massachusetts</FONT></SPAN></I><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
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