Lehua Island, Hawaii, supports a small breeding population of Black-footed Albatrosses, photograph by André Raine

André Raine (Archipelago Research and Conservation, Kauai, Hawaii USA) and colleagues have published a review in the journal Conservation Biology that identifies those species most in need of colony restoration projects in the USA’s seabird islands in the Pacific Ocean, with the Near Threatened Black-footed Albatross Phoebastria nigripes at the top of the list.

“Illuminate Our Destiny”, this Black-footed Albatross breeding close to a Hawaiian shore is at risk to storm surges and sea level rise, by Apple Resonance of Artists & Biologists Unite for Nature (ABUN) for World Albatross Day 2023, after a photograph by Eric VanderWerf

The paper’s abstract follows:

“The U.S. Pacific Islands (USPIs) comprise a globally significant region for seabirds, with some of the largest and most diverse assemblages of tropical seabird species in the world. To help direct seabird conservation in USPIs, we conducted a survey of 75 regional seabird experts and compared results with our own technical risk assessments based on 14 scoring criteria for all 27 nonfederally listed seabird species with confirmed breeding populations in USPIs. Survey respondents identified 28 factors for ranking priority species for restoration. The 3 most cited were climate change vulnerability (36.0%), restricted distribution (10.5%), and presence of introduced predators (9.4%). They were also largely in agreement with the priority species identified in our technical risk assessment. Combining both assessments, the 5 species identified as being most in need of colony restoration projects were (in descending order) black-footed albatross (Phoebastria nigripes), Polynesian storm-petrel (Nesofregetta fuliginosa), Tristram's storm-petrel (Hydrobates tristrami), Bonin petrel (Pterodroma hypoleuca), and Tahiti petrel (Pseudobulweria rostrata). Respondents also identified 21 source colonies for translocation and 107 receptor sites for colony restoration. Our collaborative approach presented a unique opportunity to gain a collective insight into the perceived threats for seabirds throughout the region and identified priority species and potential sites for restoration projects. Furthermore, our study highlighted the fact that seabird experts across the region consider climate change and the resultant loss of low-lying seabird islands a primary conservation concern that increases the urgency of colony restoration projects on high islands across the USPIs.”

Reference:

Raine, A.F., Gregg, J., McFarlin, M., Driskill, S., Swift, R. & Raine, H. 2025.  Seabird restoration priorities for the U.S. Pacific Islands.  Conservation Biology doi.org/10.1111/cobi.70084.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 01 July 2025

The 12th Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) Open Science Conference will be held in Oslo, Norway, from 10-14 August 2026, hosted by the Norwegian Polar Institute. The conference will feature an interdisciplinary programme that includes plenary lectures, parallel sessions, mini-symposia, workshops, panel discussions, posters, and social activities.

SCAR and the Norwegian Polar Institute invite you to express your interest  in proposing a

• New parallel session or convening a session from the draft list,
• mini-symposium,
• workshop,
• other event.

This is an excellent opportunity to contribute your expertise and insights and engage with the broader Antarctic research community.

The deadline for submitting your interest is 31 August 2025. Submission is open to proposals from all fields within Antarctic science, and we encourage innovative, cross-disciplinary sessions. If you wish to suggest a new event, please provide the title, a brief description, and the names of potential convenors or speakers.

Note that spaces for events are limited, and selections will be made based on the relevance and potential impact of the proposals.  Please submit your proposals here.

Satellite Events & Weekend Workshops (8–9 & 15–16 August 2026)

The weekends before and after the conference (8–9 August and 15–16 August) are available for hosting satellite events and additional workshops.  We encourage the entire Antarctic science community to use this opportunity to bring together their organisations, collaborations and teams.

Note that space is limited and will be reviewed first and then allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. The deadline to submit your expression of interest is 31 January 2026.

Please submit your proposals here.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 30 June 2025

 Members of Marion Island’s 82nd Overwintering Team with their World Albatross Day 2025 banner, replete with individual messages and the welcome news they have sponsored a hectare to the Saving Marion Island’s Seabirds: The Mouse-Free Marion (MFM) Project

The inaugural year for World Albatross Day was 2020.  In order to increase awareness of the day a request was made to seabird researchers and managers to make and display banners marking on (or close to) 19 June on islands where ACAP-listed species breed.  The uptake was excellent with many islands being featured in the North Pacific and Southern Ocean (see the whole collection here).  In 2021 a call was made for World Albatross Day banners to be taken to sea on fishing vessels.  In the following years banners continued to be displayed on islands and elsewhere, including this year, the sixth that World Albatross Day has been celebrated, as the photo portfolio depicted here shows.

50 past and present members of the South African National Antarctic Programme and Antarctic Legacy of South Africa celebrate World Albatross Day at a Midwinter party in Franschhoek, South Africa on 21 June 2025, photograph by Ria Olivier, Antarctic Legacy of South Africa

South Africa’s 2024/25 Overwintering Team (G70) on Gough Island with their World Albatross Day banner.  Long-term ACAP supporter (and instigator of World Albatross Day) Michelle Risi (front, left) holds a wooden model of an Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross made by Kabelo Moabi (G64)

Staffers and guests at this year’s World Albatross Day morning tea at the Australian Antarctic Division on 19 June.  Dr Christine Bogle, ACAP’s outgoing Executive Secretary, holds the World Albatross Day banner on the left, incoming ACAP Executive Secretary, Jonathon Barrington, holds the other end on the right.  ACAP Advisory Committee Chair, Dr Mike Double, is at the back, sixth from the left (read more about the event here).  Photograph by Wendy Pyper

It was windy on Marion Island on World Albatross Day this year as a video clip shows! The White suits and masks are part of the island field researchers'  HPAI avian flu protective kit for sampling

ACAP Latest News will be pleased to receive photographs of any more WAD2025 banners out there.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 26 June 2025

As part of its activities to mark World Albatross Day (WAD2025) and its theme of “Effects of Disease” on 19 June this year, ACAP collaborated, for the sixth year running, with the international collective Artists & Biologists Unite for Nature (ABUN) to produce 40 artworks depicting the Endangered Amsterdam Albatross Diomedea amsterdamensis and the Endangered Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross Thalassarche carteri.  From this collection, seven paintings were chosen to illustrate art posters, available for downloading and non-commercial use.

As in previous years, to wrap up ABUN Project #49 “Effects of Disease” all the paintings have been combined into a single poster by ABUN’s Marion Schön, who led the collaboration this year, having taken over as Administrator from ABUN Co-founder and long-time ACAP supporter, Kitty Harvill.

All the #49 paintings can be viewed in an album on ACAP’s Facebook page.  The eight WAD2025 posters are also available from the ACAP album store, as are paintings from earlier collaborations with ABUN since the inaugural World Albatross Day in 2020.

With thanks to Marion Schön.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 26 June 2025