JNCC’s Seabirds At Sea Team (SAST) has carried out
surveys of inshore waters since the winter of 2000/01,
primarily using aerial surveys, supplemented with land and
boat-based surveys.
The aim of these surveys is to collect up-to-date, detailed
data on the numbers and distribution of wintering aggregations of
seaduck, divers and grebes.
Much of this work has been funded by the country nature
conservation agencies. These surveys primarily contribute to
work progressing the identification of
inshore Special Protection
Areas (SPAs) for non-breeding aggregations of marine
waterbirds.