Abstract

During March 2024, an unprecedented wreck of European Storm-petrels Hydrobates pelagicus occurred along the coast of The Gambia. Here, we present information gleaned from at least 66 dead individuals collected as complete corpses and body parts, from a stretch of beach in south Gambia, where the continental shelf-break lies approximately 75 km offshore. Field observations of live birds before, during and after the wreck are also presented, including unusually large numbers of European Storm-petrels observed close inshore and over the beach, birds observed within the Gambia River estuary, and birds observed up to around 100 km (54 nautical miles) upstream along the river. This 2024 event coincided with a major marine heatwave in the tropical eastern Atlantic, and the possible causes of death and observations of inshore and onshore foraging are discussed in this context, and compared with another large inshore movement (without associated mortality) in January–February 2018. These data are notable for West Africa, and a review of the seasonal occurrence of European Storm-petrels in Gambian and Senegalese waters provides context to the 2024 mortality event.