Federal researchers using driftwood to study and track seabird deaths off N.S. coast

A floating orange block released by Environment and Climate Change Canada is seen on the shore near Halifax in this undated handout photo. People who find the blocks are being asked to report the date and the location to researchers so they can track how currents move the bodies of dead seabirds through the ocean. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout — Robert Ronconi

HALIFAX — Federal researchers want to know where dead seabirds off the coast of Nova Scotia are most likely to wash up, and they’re using a low-tech solution to find out: driftwood.

Environment and Climate Change Canada has dropped about 600 wooden blocks in the waters between Halifax and Sable Island and off the north coast of Cape Breton.

Painted bright orange and affixed with contact information, the blocks are essentially standing in for bird carcasses and a few of them have GPS trackers.

Researchers are asking birders and beachcombers who find them to call with the date and location.

They will use data about where the blocks ended up to build computerized tools helping to predict where in the ocean bird die-offs are happening when their bodies wash ashore.

That will help officials respond to outbreaks of disease such as avian flu, or to man-made problems, such as oil spills.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 14, 2026.

Devin Stevens, The Canadian Press