Since 2013, researchers at NOAA's Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary have been using satellite technology to study the movements, life cycle, and feeding and foraging habits of great shearwater seabirds in the Gulf of Maine ecosystem. This year, birds will be fitted with the transmitters, and we needed help naming 14 of them!
Tune in to The BlackAFinSTEM Collective's #BlackBirdersWeek2021 Facebook Live at 1 pm EDT to hear more about the tagging project and find out the new names for this year's great shearwaters. Follow along and stay connected all summer as we track the birds around the Atlantic!
(Photo: David Wiley/NOAA. Image description: A researcher holds a recently tagged shearwater onboard a research vessel.)
The social media campaign #BlackBirdersWeek hopes to show the world the many black birders and nature lovers of color.
A black child grins widely while holding a falcon bigger than his head. A black ecologist stands in waders beside a beaver pond. He’s studying how to help wildlife thrive. A black evolutionary biologist holds a wriggling bat. She’s working in Belize, studying the processes that led to the diversity of life on Earth.
These photos and hundreds more bird facts, questions and experiences are flooding social media. They are part of #BlackBirdersWeek. It’s a movement that is working to promote black birders and nature fans. The social media campaign runs May 31 through June 5. There are Question & Answer sessions with black birders. There’s a Facebook livestream discussion of birding while black. It also offers prompts for sharing photos of birds and being outside in nature on Twitter and Instagram.
#BlackBirdersWeek comes during nationwide protests. People are protesting the deaths of George Floyd, Tony McDade, Breonna Taylor and many other black people at the hands of the police. To the founders of #BlackBirdersWeek, the protests increase the importance and urgency of their campaign.
The founders are a group of black individuals who work in science or related fields. They got together on Twitter, and use the account @BlackAFinSTEM. They began planning #BlackBirdersWeek after May 25. That’s the day that George Floyd was killed. On the same day, Christian Cooper was birding — looking for birds in New York City’s Central Park. Cooper — who is black — saw a white woman with a dog. The dog was not on a leash. Park rules require dogs be leashed.
When Cooper asked the woman to leash her dog, she refused. Soon, she yelled that she was calling the police. She was going “to tell them there’s an African-American man threatening my life.” A confrontation with the police could have been very dangerous for Cooper.
Other black birders found Cooper’s experience very familiar. “What happened to him could have happened to any of us,” says Danielle Belleny. She is a wildlife biologist in San Antonio, Texas. She is also a cofounder of #BlackBirdersWeek.
Since 2013, researchers at NOAA's Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary have been using satellite technology to study the movements, life cycle, and feeding and foraging habits of great shearwater seabirds in the Gulf of Maine ecosystem.
This year's great shearwaters were named during our #NameThatShearwater campaign with the Black AF in STEM Collective. You can meet them and check out where they have been by visiting: https://stellwagen.noaa.gov/science/shearwater-tagging-project/
(Photo: Steve De Neef. Image description: A tagged great shearwater being held by a sanctuary researcher.)
There's no need to fight, let's have a fair contest!
For #BlackBirdersWeek2021, help us name 14 great shearwaters tagged in Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary!
Submit your best name ideas by posting on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, or email us at [email protected] with your suggestions from May 28 to June 4 with #NameThatShearwater and tag us, @BlackAFinSTEM, and Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary.
To learn more, visit: https://stellwagen.noaa.gov/science/shearwater-tagging-project.html
Tune in to BlackAFinSTEM's Facebook Live event to hear the winning names on June 5th at 1:00 p.m. EDT!
(Photo: Peter Flood. Image description: A Cory's shearwater and a great shearwater flapping at each other with open beaks at the surface.)
For #BlackBirdersWeek2021, help us name 14 great shearwaters tagged in Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary!
Submit your best name ideas by posting on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram from May 28-June 4 with #NameThatShearwater and tag NOAA's Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary and The Black AF in STEM Collective. Then tune in to @BlackAFinSTEM's Facebook Live event to hear the winning names on June 5th at 1 PM EDT!
Learn more by visiting: https://stellwagen.noaa.gov/science/shearwater-tagging-project.html
(Image description: #NameThatShearwater graphic with two shearwaters over a hello my name is badge and text that reads: "Submit a name May 28th-June4th. Winners announced June 5th @1 p.m.")
