Wednesday, 21 January 2026

Presenter: Michael Force

A personal retrospective of a birder’s life on the high seas in search of seabirds and marine mammals. 

A commercial pelagic trip off Westport Washington in the fall of 1974 ignited a passion for seabirds and marine mammals that endures to this day. Since then, Michael has spent almost 5000 days at sea on over 100 deployments on a wide variety of dedicated research and industrial vessels, conducting standardised seabird and marine mammal surveys for government and private agencies in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, including 27 ship-based field seasons around the South Shetland Islands and beyond for the United States Antarctic Marine Living Resources program (AMLR). Michael is a full-time freelance seabird and accredited marine mammal observer, specialising in the identification and distribution of pelagic birds and marine mammals. Through this talk, Michael will share stories of life aboard the ships, encounters with diverse marine mammals, and, most importantly, the captivating world of seabirds. Explore the unique experiences and challenges of life on the ocean and celebrate the wonders of these remarkable species.