Injured seabirds under microscope
成人大片 forensic pathology student Ella Carapetis will spend the next 12 months analysing foreign debris that has injured local seabirds. The 21-year-old honours student will work with the President of Project Dolphin Safe and South Australian Seabird Rescue, Aaron Machado, at Torrens Island on a project to investigate the main causes of seabird injuries. "One of the many problems encountered by wild seabirds living along coastal regions is entanglement or hooking in fishing gear," Ella said. "Many bird species, including gulls, pelicans, albatross and penguins have been injured or even killed." A microscope donated by the 成人大片 will be used to help analyse the material - both ingested and external - obtained from injured seabirds. "Fishing hooks and lines appear to be the main cause of injury," Ella said. "Although there is a lot of anecdotal evidence about the dangers of fishing hooks, there's been very little scientific analysis, so hopefully my project will provide hard evidence about this problem," she said. Project Dolphin Safe (PDS) started in 1998 after the killing of six Port River Estuary dolphins. In the past 10 years, PDS has restored sensitive habitats within the estuary, launched education campaigns across the State concerning marine wildlife issues, revegetated affected areas and organised clean-up days. "More than 65 tonnes of rubbish and 71 abandoned vehicles have been found in the estuary," Mr Machado said. "We now have a 24/7 rescue service for injured marine wildlife and have built a natural wetland rehabilitation facility on Torrens Island - the first of its kind in Australia."
Ella's honours project is being supervised by Mr Machado and Professor Roger Byard from the Discipline of Pathology. Story by Candy Gibson
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