World Seabird Day: Celebrating and Protecting California's Incredible Seabirds

Elegant Terns © Wildlife Jewels® / Azi Sharif, 2026 La Jolla, California

Happy World Seabird Day!💙

Seabirds are magical, intelligent, and resilient — enchanting ocean travelers who connect land, sea, and sky 💜 💎

Here along the beautiful California coast, we have the privilege of sharing their home, observing them, learning from them, and helping protect them.

But sadly, seabirds are facing an escalating conservation crisis. Warming oceans, shifting fish availability, overfishing, starvation events, fishing gear entanglement, toxic algal blooms, sewage spills, oil spills, plastic pollution, wildlife feeding, harassment, cruelty, and other human-caused disturbances are making survival increasingly difficult.

Through the Wildlife Jewels Rescue Crew and EYES field monitoring, we spend hours along the coast documenting seabirds, learning from them, supporting rescues, and helping protect them and the places they need to rest, nest, and survive.

These challenges are not just statistics to us—they are realities we witness firsthand. Through countless hours of routine seabird observation surveys along the California coast, Wildlife Jewels has documented the growing threats facing local seabirds, from starvation events and fishing gear entanglement to habitat disturbance and other human-caused impacts.

Our time in the field has reinforced the importance of early reporting, long-term monitoring, and community education. In 2026, Wildlife Jewels expanded this commitment by launching the Wildlife Jewels Rescue Crew to support the search for, documentation of, reporting of, and authorized transport support for seabirds and other coastal wildlife in need.

Every observation contributes to a better understanding of the challenges seabirds face, and every timely report has the potential to help save a life. Together, through science, education, and community action, we can help ensure these extraordinary birds continue to thrive along California's coast.

This World Seabird Day, we celebrate these extraordinary birds — and stand stronger than ever for their protection.

Take action with us

📍 Report distressed seabirds: WildlifeJewels.org/report-wildlife

🛟 Join the Wildlife Jewels Rescue Crew to save seabirds: Apply Here

Join the Wildlife Jewels® EYES Collective to spot • document • report hazards and distressed seabirds.

Seabirds © Wildlife Jewels® / Azi Sharif, 2026 La Jolla and Solana Beach, California

Migratory and coastal birds along the Southern California coast — 2026 © Wildlife Jewels / Azi Sharif