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Artists and Biologists Unite for Nature's Project #47 kicks off in support of this year's World Albatross Day

ABUN artworks for WAD 1Top: The banner created by Marion Schön for ABUN Project #47 “Marine Protected Areas”
Bottom: Artworks (L-R): George and Geraldine, Short-tailed Albatrosses by Flávia F. Barreto from a photo by J Plissner; Short-tailed Albatross chick by Marion Schön from a photo by Jonathan Plissner; “All you need is love" - and zumba!” Short-tailed Albatrosses by Di Roberts

The first artworks for ABUN Project #47 under the theme, “Marine Protected Areas – Safeguarding our Oceans” have been created in support of this year's World Albatross Day to be celebrated on 19 June. By focusing on the connection between albatrosses and the ocean, this year’s World Albatross Day hopes to highlight how Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) can help improve the conservation status of these magnificent birds. 

Short tailed Albatross Doug HiserShort-tailed Albatross by Doug Hiser

The establishment of MPAs can assist in improving the conservation status of albatrosses through the protection of the immediate surrounds of their breeding localities and key regions across their migratory ranges, and through the management of activities permitted within them, such as fishing. 

New Zealand’s Near Threatened Buller's Albatross Thalassarche bulleri and the Vulnerable Short-tailed Albatross Phoebastria albatrus have been chosen as the featured species for WAD2024. 

ABUN artworks for WAD 2Artworks from top left (clockwise): George and Geraldine Short-tailed Albatrosses by M Lucia Bendasoli; “And then they said ...!'  wait, no way!” Buller's Albatrosses by Ellyn Bousman Lentz; Buller’s Albatross by Peter Ward from a photo by Enzo M Reyes; George Short-tailed Albatross by Judith Mackay from a photo by Jon Plissner; “Will you be mine?” Buller's Albatrosses by Ellyn Bousman Lentz; “The guiding heart” Buller’s Albatross by Virginia Nicol from photos by Dominique Filipino and Paul Sagar

An official World Albatross Day poster in ACAP’s three official languages of English, French and Spanish will be released in the coming weeks and will be made available at high resolution to download at the ACAP website. 

ABUN Project #47, will run until 31 March and is the fifth collaboration between ACAP and Artists and Biologists Unite for Nature in support of World Albatross Day.

1 February 2024

The Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand is a useful source of information for many of the 31 ACAP-listed species

Fig 5 low resAntipodean Albatrosses on Antipodes Island, photograph by Kath Walker MNZM

In 2022 the Ornithological Society of New Zealand produced the Fifth Edition of its Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand.  The 335-page occasional publication (digital only) gives information on nomenclature, taxonomy, classification, distribution, breeding localities and status of the birds (including vagrants) of New Zealand, its sub-Antarctic islands and its surrounding waters.  Common names are given in English and in Māori.  A total of 427 living or recently extinct species is covered by the checklist.

New Zealand is known for the large number of seabird species that has been recorded within its region, notably among the procellariiforms (albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters), including 25 species of the 31 listed by the Albatross and Petrel Agreement.  Of the 22 species of albatrosses recognized by ACAP, 18 species have been recorded within the New Zealand region, 13 of them as breeders.  Seven of the nine ACAP-listed petrels and shearwaters are in the checklist, five of them as breeders.  The information provided in the 5th Edition of the checklist will thus prove valuable, for example, in updating many of the ACAP Species Assessments.

Chatham Albatross Lorna DeppeA Chatham Albatross straddles its chick on a pedestal mud nest on the Pyramid, photograph by Lorna Deppe

The checklist’s taxonomic treatment is broadly similar to that of ACAP’s.  For example, for the great albatrosses Diomedea that it groups in a “wandering albatross” complex, it recognizes five taxa in four species: Amsterdam D. amsterdamensis, Antipodean D antipodensis (including the subspecies gibsoni), Tristan D. dabbenena and Wandering D. exulans.  Similarly, it recognizes two subspecies for Buller’s Albatross Thalassarche bulleri.  There are a few differences, notably Shy Thalassarche cauta and White-capped T. steadi Albatrosses are treated subspecifically, and not as full species as ACAP does.

English common names are also broadly similar, but there are some differences, e.g. Campbell Black-browed Albatross T. impavida and Chatham Island Albatross T. eremita, rather than the shorter Campbell and Chatham Albatrosses favoured by ACAP.  The now somewhat old-fashioned Light-mantled Sooty Albatross is retained for Phoebetria palpebrata, whereas most modern treatments have dropped the “Sooty”, as has ACAP.  No mention of the “Snowy Albatross” used by those who watch seabirds on pelagic excursions, to refer (it seems) to large, mainly white albatrosses they find hard to identify to species.

NGP chick Disappointment Island Graham ParkerA Northern Giant Petrel chick on Disappointment Island, Auckland Islands, photograph by Graham Parker

Five ACAP-listed petrels in the genera Macronectes and Procellaria breed within New Zealand, their taxonomy and common names follow those used by ACAP.

Reference:

Checklist Committee (OSNZ). 2022.  Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand (5th Edition). Ornithological Society of New Zealand Occasional Publication No. 1.  Wellington: Ornithological Society of New Zealand.  335 pp.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 29 February 2024

High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza has spread to Wandering Albatrosses on sub-Antarctic islands

 

Wandering Albatross near South Georgia 2 Kirk ZufeltA Wandering Albatross flying near South Georgia (Islas Georgias del Sur*); photograph by Kirk Zufelt

High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza (HPAI) has been detected in Vulnerable Wandering Albatrosses Diomedea exulans on the subantarctic islands of South Georgia (Islas Georgias del Sur*).

Dr Richard Phillips is Head of the British Antarctic Survey’s Higher Predators and Conservation Group and Vice-convenor of ACAP’s Population and Conservation Status Working Group and has been working with albatrosses and petrels in the region for over 20 years. 

Expressing concern about the current situation he said: "In terms of albatross species at South Georgia, as far as we are aware it’s just [Wandering Albatrosses] that are dying in large numbers from avian flu. More than 50 adult Wanderers died, although the last of those was a couple of weeks ago so we’re really hoping there won’t be any/many more."

This outbreak, which began with Brown Skuas in October 2023 and has since affected other species including elephant seals, fur seals, Kelp Ggulls and Antarctic Terns, poses significant challenges for conservation efforts. 

The eggs of Wandering Albatrosses laid in December last year will begin hatching in March and although there is concern for the chicks, Dr Phillips said the the survival of adults is more pressing. 

“…possibly the chicks might not be affected this summer or during the winter (when just visited by their parents) but there could be a new wave of infections at the start of the next austral summer when the summer-breeding species – including skuas – return. Mortality of adults is more serious as their survival is naturally much higher than that of chicks and so their loss has a greater impact on population trends.”

Collaboration between the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), the Government of South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI), and with DEFRA’s Animal Plant Health Agency (APHA) aims to monitor and mitigate the transmission of HPAI H5N1. 

In November 2023, the Agreement’s Intersessional Group on High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza H5N1 released an updated version of ACAP’s Guidelines for working with albatrosses and petrels during the high pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 panzootic, available at the ACAP website, here.

28 February 2024

*A dispute exists between the Governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (Islas Georgias del Sur y Islas Sandwich del Sur) and the surrounding maritime areas.

Albatrosses get a decadal survey in the South Atlantic, including on rarely visited Annenkov Island

Picture1South Georgia/Islas Georgias del Sur*.  "Sites all around the island are being visited by the survey group”

Every decade a major survey of the breeding albatrosses of South Georgia/Islas Georgias del Sur* and its associated islands is undertaken to ascertain how the island’s globally important bird populations are faring.  The latest survey has been taking place this summer.  The last survey, conducted in 2014/15, showed that Wandering Diomedea exulans, Black-browed Thalassarche melonophris and Grey-headed T. chrysostoma Albatrosses were all showing a sustained decline in their populations.

“In the ten years since [the last survey], a range of conservation efforts [has] been made to address the threats to the birds.  Unintentional bird deaths as a result of human fishing activities are a major one.  This incidental mortality generally occurs outside the South Georgia Maritime Zone in more northern latitudes.  Supporters of SGHT and FOSGI have also been funding conservation work in these fisheries to encourage fishing practices that reduce bird bycatch.  The 2024 survey is vital to show if these conservations efforts are working, if further action is needed, and if so, where this should be targeted.”

Wandering Albatross Prion Island Anton WolfaardtA male Wandering Albatross incubates its egg on Prion Island, a tourist site, photograph by Anton Wolfaardt

The current survey has been working from two vessels.  In November 2023 the Fishery Patrol Vessel Pharos SG was used to survey Black-browed and Grey-headed Albatross colonies using drones, a relatively new method for the island.  Using drones to survey has potential benefits such as cost effectiveness, speed, access to difficult-to-reach areas, and can potentially reduce impact on the wildlife-dense areas being surveyed.

Vinson of Antarctica
The survey yacht
Vinson of Antarctica, photograph by Rick Tomlinson

This year the survey team is using the charter yacht Vinson of Antarctica to access tourist landing sites (such as Prion Island) and also more remote sites around the island.  The main target is to count Wandering Albatrosses, including on rarely visited sites such as 1500-ha Annenkov Island, a Site of Special Scientific Interest off the south-west coast of the main island (No. 15 on the above map).  Annenkov holds the second largest population of Wandering Albatrosses in South Georgia/Islas Georgias del Sur* (as many as 500 breeding pairs) after Bird Island (656 pairs in 2022).  Due its remote location a census has only been conducted twice before, most recently in 2004 (click here).

Information from the online SGHT Newsletter, available by free subscription from the South Georgia Heritage Trust at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

References:

Poncet, S., Robertson, G., Phillips, R.A., Lawton, K., Phalan,  B., Trathan, P.N. & Croxall, J.P. 2006.  Status and distribution of wandering, black-browed and grey-headed albatrosses breeding at South Georgia.  Polar Biology 29: 772-781.

Poncet, S., Wolfaardt, A.C., Black, A., Browning, S., Lawton, K., Lee, J., Passfield, K., Strange, G. & Phillips, R.A. 2017.  Recent trends in numbers of wandering (Diomedea exulans), black-browed (Thalassarche melanophris) and grey-headed (T. chrysostoma) albatrosses breeding at South Georgia.  Polar Biology 40: 1347-1358 [click here for ALN feature].

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 27 February 2024

*A dispute exists between the Governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (Islas Georgias del Sur y Islas Sandwich del Sur) and the surrounding maritime areas.

No place like a new home? First Translocated Black-footed Albatross returns to Isla Guadalupe

BFA Isla Guadalupe photo by GECIBruno, the 3 year-old Black-footed Albatross that has returned to Mexico's Isla Guadalupe; photograph © GECI / J.A. Soriano

The first Black-footed Albatross from an international translocation project has returned to its new home on Isla Guadalupe in Mexico, raising hopes for the establishment of a new breeding colony on the island. 

The adult male was one of the 27 Black-footed Albatross eggs and chicks translocated from Hawaii’s Midway Atoll to Isla Guadalupe in the first year of the project in 2021.  

The translocation project aims to ensure the long-term survival of Black-footed Albatrosses whose populations predominantly breed on the low-lying atolls of the USA’s North-western Hawaiian Islands which are at risk to climate change. The initiative is a collaboration between Pacific Rim Conservation (PRC), Grupo de Ecología y Conservación de Islas (GECI) and other partner agencies in the USA and Mexico, and is supported by the governments of the two countries. 

Director General of GECI, Dr. Federico Alfonso Méndez Sánchez described the mood amongst project partners and field staff on the island as celebratory saying, “We feel humbled by the bird’s resilience and thus encouraged to continue with our efforts to give them a helping hand to thrive amidst the many threats they face.”

Dr Sanchez also pointed to the power of collaboration in conservation stating: “This project is also an example that we can achieve great positive outcomes for threatened species by working cooperatively at a local, regional and international level. Cooperation was key for the current success of this conservation translocation.”

This year, the translocation team were able to place 36 fertilised eggs with nesting Laysan Albatross pairs, who will raise the chicks as their own until they fledge.

23 February 2024

The Agreement on the
Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels

ACAP is a multilateral agreement which seeks to conserve listed albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters by coordinating international activity to mitigate known threats to their populations.

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