Part 1. Seabird assemblages during trawling operations

Our knowledge of seabird assemblage composition and abundance at-sea is limited by the availability of vessel platforms. Fishing vessels is an alternative to dedicated research vessels. Besides, it is important to document potential interactions between fishing vessels and seabirds and to discern potential biases in seabird assemblages that fishing operations could cause. Here we document seabird assemblages during research trawl for finfish around Elephant and South Orkney Islands during summer. There were a total of 13 species recorded, with only two species only found at Elephant or South Orkney Islands. Mean species richness per set during fishing operations was 4-5, with a mean abundance of 139 birds at Elephant and 40 birds around South Orkney Islands during net hauling. Main species sighted were Cape petrel, Black-browed albatross, Giant petrel and White-chinned petrel, which were more abundant at the stern rather than the bow of the vessel. The information was collected as part of the project "Finfish distribution and abundance in Subareas 48.1 and 48.2" developed by the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso on board the fishing vessel Cabo de Hornos, between January 21 and February 14, 2015.