Seabird watchers on a ‘pelagic’ trip by Pauletta Charters out of Eaglehawk Neck, Tasmania, Australia  on 5 May 2019 observed a banded great albatross Diomedea sp. at sea at 43° 10'S, 148° 16'E over 650 fathoms (1200 m) of water on the continental shelf edge.  The bird was photographed flying and on the water close to the vessel.  Examination of photographs after the trip allowed enough of the metal band number and lettering to be read, confirming it to be a South African (SAFRING) band no. J-26967.

Wandering Albatross J-26967 in Tasmanian waters, photograph by Rohan Clarke

Enough of the band is visible to deduce the bird's identity, photograph by Tim Bawden

SAFRING has confirmed that J-26967 was banded as a globally Vulnerable Wandering Albatross D. exulans chick on 23 July 2016 on Marion Island, two years and nine and a half months previously.  The Eaglehawk photos show the metal band was on the left leg, which is normal practice for chicks at Marion Island.  It had no colour band on its right leg; alphanumeric colour bands are only added to Marion Wanderers when they recruit to the breeding population and then only to birds in long-term study colonies.

The photograph of the bird in flight below allows an assessment of its wing moult.  Only the three outer primaries show signs of replacement, along with some median and lesser coverts, as well as the tertial greater coverts.  The secondaries and inner and middle primaries are all of the same age with no signs of moult.  This suggests the bird is a three-year old juvenile, which accords with the banding information.  Based on its notably large bill, it is thought likely to be a male.

Wandering Albatross J-26967 in flight off Tasmania, photograph by Rohan Clarke

Pauletta Charters’ trips out of Eaglehawk Neck operate under the banner of BirdLife Australia.

With thanks to Tim Bawden, Rohan Clarke and Peter Ryan for information, photographs and opinions on moult.

Reference:

Prince, P.A., Weimerskirch, H., Huin, N. & Rodwell, S. 1999.  Molt, maturation of plumage and ageing in the Wandering Albatross.  The Condor 97: 58-72.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 10 July 2019

Terres australes antarctiques françaises (TAAF) submitted France’s nomination for the inscription of its sub-Antarctic islands (Amsterdam, Crozets, Kerguelen and Saint-Paul) on the List of Natural Sites of UNESCO’s World Heritage Convention (WHC) in February 2018.  Following review, the World Heritage Committee at its 43rd Session meeting in Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan this month has now inscribed France’s sub-Antarctic islands on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

“The French Austral Lands and Seas comprise the largest of the rare emerged land masses in the southern Indian Ocean: the Crozet Archipelago, the Kerguelen Islands, Saint-Paul and Amsterdam Islands as well as 60 small sub-Antarctic islands. This “oasis” in the middle of the Southern Ocean covers an area of more than 67 million ha and supports one of the highest concentrations of birds and marine mammals in the world. In particular, it has the largest population of King Penguins and [Indian] Yellow-nosed albatrosses in the world. The remoteness of these islands from centres of human activity makes them extremely well-preserved showcases of biological evolution and a unique terrain for scientific research.” (click here).

 Endangered Amsterdam Albatrosses Diomedea amsterdamensis display on Amsterdam Island: a species endemic to the new World Heritage site

Photograph by Romain Buenadicha

South Africa’s Prince Edward Islands (Marion and Prince Edward) are now the only islands in the southern Indian Ocean that are not a World Heritage Site.  Overall, only South Georgia (Islas Georgias del Sur)* also does not have World Heritage status, All the other islands commonly accepted as falling within the sub-Antarctic Region are World Heritage Natural Sites: Gough, Heard, Macquarie and the five New Zealand sub-Antarctic island groups. 

Following South Africa’s withdrawal of its nomination of the Prince Edwards after an unfavourable evaluation by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), South Africa removed its sub-Antarctic islands from its Tentative List (originally listed in 2004).  Such a listing would be a prerequisite for any re-nomination of the Prince Edwards for Word Heritage status.

Read earlier ACAP Latest News postings on the successful French nomination here.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 09 July 2019

*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.

Peter Puskic (Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Newnham, Tasmania, Australia) and colleagues have published in the journal Conservation Physiology finding that fatty-acid levels in two shearwater species were not related to the amount of plastic items ingested.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Marine plastic pollution is increasing exponentially, impacting an expanding number of taxa each year across all trophic levels. Of all bird groups, seabirds display the highest plastic ingestion rates and are regarded as sentinels of pollution within their foraging regions. The consumption of plastic contributes to sub-lethal impacts (i.e. morbidity, starvation) in a handful of species. Additional data on these sub-lethal effects are needed urgently to better understand the scope and severity of the plastics issue. Here we explore the application of fatty acid (FA) analysis as a novel tool to investigate sub-lethal impacts of plastic ingestion on seabird body condition and health. Using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, we identified 37 individual FAs within the adipose, breast muscle and liver of flesh-footed (Ardenna carneipes) and short-tailed (Ardenna tenuirostris) shearwaters. We found high amounts of FA 16:0, 18:0, 20:5n3 (eicosapentaenoic acid), 22:6n3 (docosahexaenoic acid) and 18:1n9 in both species; however, the overall FA composition of the two species differed significantly. In flesh-footed shearwaters, high amounts of saturated and mono-unsaturated FAs (needed for fast and slow release energy, respectively) in the adipose and muscle tissues were related to greater bird body mass. While total FAs were not related to the amount of plastic ingested in either species, these data are a valuable contribution to the limited literature on FAs in seabirds. We encourage studies to explore other analytical tools to detect these sub-lethal impacts of plastic.”

Flesh-footed Shearwater, photograph by Barry Baker

Reference:

Puskic, P.S., Lavers, J.L., Adams, L.R., Grünenwald, M., Hutton, I. & Bond, A.L. 2019.  Uncovering the sub-lethal impacts of plastic ingestion by shearwaters using fatty acid analysis.  Conservation Physiology 7(1).  doi:10.1093/conphys/coz017.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 08 July 2019

Helen Booker (South West Regional Office, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Exeter, UK) and colleagues have published in the April 2019 issue of the journal British Birds on the recovery of seabirds on the UK island of Lundy after the eradication of rats in 2004.  The population of Manx Shearwaters Puffinus puffinus has risen from 297 to 5504 pairs since then.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Lundy once supported large numbers of breeding seabirds, but declines during the twentieth century left the island with only remnants of its former colonies.  One major concern during this time was the impact of rat predation on eggs and chicks, especially of burrow-nesting Manx Shearwaters Puffinus puffinus and Puffins Fratercula arctica.  A major project to eradicate rats from Lundy was completed in the spring of 2004.  This paper examines the latest Manx Shearwater survey and how the species has responded since rats were eradicated, and sets this into the context of how the overall status of seabirds on Lundy has changed over the last 15 years.”

A Manx Shearwater chick at its burrow mouth, photograph by Jaclyn Pearson

Read popular accounts here and here.

Reference:

Booker, H., Price, D., Slader, P., Frayling, T., Williams, T. & Bolton, M. 2019.  Seabird recovery on Lundy: population change in Manx Shearwaters and other seabirds in response to the eradication of rats.  British Birds  April issue.

John Cooper, ACAP information Officer, 05 July 2019