Sir David Attenborough

Sir David Attenborough turns 100 today.  Celebrations , including a live special TV show “David Attenborough’s 100 Years on Planet Earth”, are marking his contributions to natural history, broadcasting and conservation, including in the realm of the Southern Ocean.  His documentaries on sub-Antarctic islands and their albatrosses have surely done more in the cause of their conservation than any other person has ever managed to achieve.

To mark his birthday, ACAP has found four short video clips of Sir David with three albatross species, Antipodean, Black-browed and Wandering, for followers of ACAP Latest News to enjoy.

“Male albatrosses pair for life”, from Frozen Planet II

“Nature of Wandering Albatross”, from Saving Planet Earth

“World's Largest Albatross Colony”, from Blue Planet

“Endangered Wandering Albatross”, from Saving Planet Earth

Sir David Attenborough and a Laysan Albatross

“On the day of Sir David Attenborough’s 100th birthday, this unmissable event honours one of the most influential figures in broadcasting and natural history storytelling.  Broadcast from the Royal Albert Hall in London, this 90-minute special celebrates Sir David’s groundbreaking career, taking audiences on an extraordinary journey through a century of exploration and discovery in the natural world, seen through the prism of Sir David’s remarkable life and work.  The programme combines some of the most memorable wildlife moments from the BBC’s natural history archive with live music drawn from Sir David’s most iconic television series, alongside reflections from public figures and leading voices in conservation and wildlife film-making.

Accompanied throughout by the BBC Concert Orchestra, the programme features iconic music associated with some of television’s most unforgettable sequences from landmark series including Planet Earth, Blue Planet and Frozen Planet. And we hear from those who have worked with and been inspired by Sir David over the years.”

Sir David Attenborough with a Grey-headed Albatross, while filming in 1992 for Life in the Freezer, photograph by Ben Osborne

You can sign his online birthcard here.  The day before his birthday 139 170 had already done so. Hint: use a UK postcode.

The Albatross and Petrel Agreement extends its very best wishes to Sir David on attaining his century.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 08 May 2026

“Borne to Soar” by ABUN artist Peter Shearer, a wildlife artist and photographer who resides in Wellington, New Zealand.  Using Procreate, it depicts Atlantic Yellow-nosed and Chatham Albatrosses breeding and flying against a backdrop of two breeding localities, Gough Island in the South Atlantic and The Pyramid in New Zealand

The Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels is pleased to announce that its collaboration with the international collective Artists & Biologists Unite for Nature (ABUN) for the seventh consecutive year has resulted in 64 artworks by 37 artists in support of World Albatross Day on 19 June, with its 2026 theme of “Habitat Restoration”.  This brings the total number of ABUN artworks in support of albatross conservation since 2020 to 760!

This year’s ABUN Project #52 initially ran from 16 February to 19 April, with an extension to accommodate late submissions until 03 May.  All these artworks can be viewed in a photo album on ACAP’s Facebook page.

Banner design for Project #52 by Kitty Harvill, with photographs by David Boyle, Chris Jones and Michelle Risi

ABUN artists were requested to produce works featuring two albatross species.  They are the Endangered Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross Thalassarche chlororhynchos, endemic to the Tristan da Cunha islands, part of the United Kingdom Overseas Territory of St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic, and the Vulnerable Chatham Albatross Thalassarche eremita, endemic to The Pyramid, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.

Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross, watercolour by 10-year-old Alankrita Dhawan, after a photograph by Alexis Osborne

By happy happenstance the overall 700th artwork by ABUN artists since 2020 is of an Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross entitled “Dreaming of Gough”, painted for Project #52 by ABUN’s Co-founder and long-time supporter of the Albatross and Petrel Agreement, Kitty Harvill (click here). Thirty-six artworks feature the Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross, and 28 the Chatham Albatross. Ten have come from children ranging in age from six to thirteen.

No. 700!  Kitty Harvill’s “Dreaming of Gough” depicts a close-up of the head of an Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross, painted in acrylics on canvas. Gough Island where the species breeds, is reflected in the bird’s eye, after a photograph by Chris Jones

 Between now and World Albatross Day on 19 June, ACAP Latest News will feature articles on some of the artists and their works. In addition, four artworks, two for each species, will be chosen to be made into posters that can be freely downloaded from this website.  A poster depicting all 64 artworks and a music video are also planned to wrap up yet another highly successful collaboration.

“Home, Sweet Home”.  Chatham Albatrosses on The Pyramid, by Maureen Bennetts, after a photograph by Lorna Deppe

The WAD2026 theme of Habitat Restoration includes such management activities as eradication or control of introduced plants and animals at breeding sites, provision and maintenance of predator-proof fences, establishment of new breeding colonies by attraction techniques and translocations of eggs and chicks, candling and substituting infertile with fertile eggs, placement of artificial nests, supplementary feeding and hydration of chicks and adults, artificial incubation during hatching, and the use of fly repellents and sprinkler systems to improve breeding success.

The WAD2026 theme follows on from the inaugural theme “Eradicating Island Pests” in 2020, “Ensuring Albatross-friendly Fisheries” in 2021, “Climate Change” in 2022, “Plastic Pollution” in 2023, Marine Protected Areas” in 2024 and “Effects of Disease” in 2025, all of which have been supported by ABUN Projects.

With grateful thanks to ABUN Co-founder, Kitty Harvill and to all the artists who have contributed to Project #52.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 07 May 2026

Light-morph Wedge-tailed Shearwater at sea, photograph by Brian Sullivan

Penny Beaver (Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Battery Point, Tasmania, Australia) and colleagues have published in the open access journal Ecology and Evolution on the at-sea distribution of two populations of Australian Wedge-tailed Shearwaters Ardenna pacifica.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Wedge-tailed shearwaters (Ardenna pacifica) are widely distributed across tropical and subtropical oceans, with their breeding range recently extending south.  For populations at their southernmost breeding range, habitat use, spatial segregation, and trophic niche dynamics remain poorly understood.  Here, we investigated the habitat use, spatial segregation, and trophic niche differentiation in two disjunct populations of wedge-tailed shearwaters in eastern Australia, between 2015 and 2019.  Both populations exhibited consistent spatial segregation across all years of the study.  Individuals from the temperate population consistently foraged in waters off southeastern Australia.  Prior to winter migration to the western Pacific Ocean (Philippine Sea), most individuals undertook a pre-staging detour towards the subtropical frontal zone.  In contrast, subtropical conspecifics exploited waters further east and north, with a small proportion undertaking a pre-staging detour only in the first year.  Stable isotope analysis of chick feathers (δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C) revealed trophic and habitat segregation between colonies.  With the subtropical population consistently occupying a smaller trophic niche area and exhibiting lower interannual variation across all years.  Both populations exhibited a high degree of interannual variability in foraging strategies and trophic niches, indicating a capacity for behavioural adaptivity in response to prey availability and oceanic conditions.  This behavoural [sic] flexibility may facilitate future range expansion into more southern temperate habitats, which is important given projected climate-driven changes to ocean dynamics in southeastern Australia.”

Reference:

Beaver, P.E., Carlile, N., Sumner, M.D. & Lea, M. 2026.  Spatial segregation and trophic niche divergence in two disjunct populations of Wedge‐tailed Shearwater Ardenna pacifica in eastern Australia.  Ecology and Evolution 16(3) doi.org/10.1002/ece3.73158.

With apologies to Bob Dylan.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses, 06 May 2026

A Townsend’s Shearwater fledgling in the hand, photograph by Juan Martinez

Fernando Solís-Carlos (Grupo de Ecología y Conservación de Islas, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico) and many colleagues have published open access in the journal Oryx on the conservation of the Critically Endangered Townsend’s Shearwater Puffinus auricularis.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Mexico ranks third globally in seabird diversity and second in the number of endemic species that breed within its territory, yet 16% of seabird species in the country are categorized as threatened on the IUCN Red List, including the Critically Endangered Townsend’s shearwater Puffinus auricularis.  Nearly 20 years ago, the breeding population of Townsend’s shearwater, which is endemic to the Revillagigedo Archipelago of Mexico, was inferred to comprise < 100 breeding pairs.  Since then, conservation initiatives have been implemented in the archipelago.  We assessed the current status of Townsend’s shearwater by mapping the distribution of breeding colonies, estimating breeding population size, evaluating reproductive success, describing ongoing threats and modelling population trends under three conservation scenarios.  During 2016–2024, we conducted field surveys on the islands of Socorro and Clarión using acoustic monitoring techniques in historical nesting areas.  We estimated that the breeding population on Socorro comprises < 200 pairs and documented the return of a small breeding population to Clarión after a 30-year absence.  However, reproductive failure persists because of the effects of native predators such as land crabs, snakes and ravens.  The population has exhibited a slow decline driven by interactions between native and invasive species.  Without ongoing restoration efforts and management actions, including the removal of feral cats, the population could face extinction.”

Reference:

Solís-Carlos, F., Ortiz-Alcaraz, A., Aguirre-Muñoz, A., Bedolla-Guzmán, Y., Fabila-Blanco, A., Aztorga-Ornelas, A., Félix-Lizárraga, M., Góngora-Salinas, J., Castillo-Huerta, N., Íñigo-Elías, E., Rojas-Mayoral, B., Macías-López, I., Piña-Vera, E. & Méndez-Sánchez, F.. 2026.  Update on the conservation status of Townsend’s shearwater Puffinus auricularis: breeding colonies, reproductive success and population trend.  Oryx doi:10.1017/S0030605325102123.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses, 05 May 2026