Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus)

(last update: July 12, 2015)

Coordinators:
Jean-Michel Sauvage (France)
Morten Helberg (Norway)
Nils Helge Lorentzen (Norway)
Mars Muusse (Netherlands)

Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus) 7P1 adult, December 20 2011, Isles of Shoals. Picture: Lauren Kras.

Lauren Kras, a fellow “Shoaler” (someone who attended a course at the Shoals Marine Laboratory) and Teaching Assistant for UNH’s Marine Immersion class was on a New Years Eve cruise aboard the R/V Gulf Challenger. Lauren snapped this picture of 7P1 in flight at the Isles of Shoals. 7P1 was banded as an adult in May 2010 near the SML Dock; in July 2011 two of its chicks were banded. We banded a large number of adult Great Black-Backed Gulls (GBBG) in 2010 as part of a study looking at extra-pair paternity (ie. faithfulness between mates) in GBBGs using DNA from both parents and their offspring. We banded and took blood samples from over 50 GBBG pairs and their offspring for the study.