“Wandering Albatrosses courting” by Maureen Rousseau of Artist & Biologists Unite for Nature (ABUN) for World Albatross Day 19 June 2020, after a photograph by Michelle Risi

Augustin Clessin (Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, Université Montpellier, France) and colleagues have pre-published in bioRxiv preprint on records of highly pathogenic avian influenza detected in the French sub-Antarctic islands of Possession, Crozets and Kerguelen, including in  Vulnerable Wandering Albatross Diomedea exulans chicks.  The paper follows on from an earlier reports of HPAI on sub-Antarctic islands in ACAP Latest News.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Since 2020, the outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus l; clade 2.3.4.4b has turned into the largest documented panzootic to date, reaching the sub-Antarctic region and Antarctica via the tip of South America in 2023.  Here, we describe its recent arrival into the Indian Ocean sub-Antarctic archipelagos of Crozet and Kerguelen, where we first detected the virus in October 2024 in dead southern elephant seals, king penguins, gentoo penguins, brown skuas and kelp gulls.  While the panzootic is ongoing, it has already caused unprecedented and alarming mortalities of southern elephant seals.  We collected brain swabs from various seal and bird carcasses, subsequently isolated the virus and obtained 25 novel HPAI H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b sequences.  Our phylogenetic and phylogeographic analyses show that there have been independent introductions of the virus to Crozet and Kerguelen, from the distant South Georgia Islands in the Southern Atlantic, and not from the more nearby coasts of South Africa.  Our results point to a year-long gap in genomic surveillance in the south polar region, obscuring how HPAI H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b is spreading in the sub-Antarctic and illustrating the difficulties in tracking pathogen dispersal in the region.  Locally, our phylogenetic analyses show that the virus is transmitted between different species.   Moreover, our serological analyses show that some southern elephant seal pups had mounted an anti-H5 antibody response. With the spread to Crozet and Kerguelen, HPAI H5N1 2.3.4.4b is moving ever closer to Australia and New Zealand, which currently remain free from infections with this strain, and represents a major threat to the sub-Antarctic wildlife.  Our results provide key elements to enable stakeholders to anticipate the arrival and spread of the virus in remote areas of critical wildlife conservation concerns.”

Read a popular account of HPAI in Antarctica and on sub-Antarctic islands here.

ACAP has chosen “Effects of Disease” as its theme for this year’s World Albatross Day on 19 June.

Reference:

Clessin, A., Briand, F.-X., Tornos, J., Lejeune, M., De Pasquale, C., Fischer, R., Souchaud, F., Hirchaud, E., Bralet T., Guinet, C., McMahon, C.R., Grasland, B., Baele, G. & Boulinier, T. 2025.  Mass mortality events in the sub-Antarctic Indian Ocean caused by long-distance circumpolar spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b.  bioRxiv preprint.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 17 March 2025

 Amsterdam Island with the French surveillance frigate, Floréal, photograph by the Marine nationale

ACAP Latest News has previously reported on the January wildfire that caused the evacuation of the personnel manning France’s Amsterdam Island in the southern Indian Ocean, and the plan to send an inspection team in late February.  With the help of Google Translate, information is now available on what the inspection found in relation to the island’s seabirds, as summarized below.

• The fire is still burning in more than 20 “hotspots”, with nearly 55% of the island now burnt and most of the island's Phylica arborea woodland affected.
• An expert assessment carried out at the Pointe Bénédicte site, where the first flames were observed, has not yet determined the cause of the fire.
• The Entrecasteaux cliffs, a breeding locality for the Endangered Indian Yellow-nosed Albatrosses Thalassarche carteri and Endangered Northern Rockhopper Penguins Eudyptes moseleyi, have as yet not been burnt.
• Only one nest of the endemic and Endangered Amsterdam Albatross Diomedea amsterdamensis was located within the fire's reach. “The laying period for the next [2025/26] breeding season is underway. If the fire stops its spread and does not further impact the breeding area, the impact on the Amsterdam Albatross should remain low” (in translation).

 Smoking hotspots on Amsterdam Island, with the Martin-de-Viviès base in the background, photograph by TAAF-SDIS

A further inspection and necessary repairs to the Martin-de-Viviès base are planned to take place in April.  A decision will then be made as to iwhen the island is to be reoccupied.

With thanks to Maëlle Connan.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 14 March 2025

 Flesh-footed Shearwater, hand-coloured lithograph by John Gerrard Keulemans, from the Monograph of the Petrels (Tubinares) by Frederick DuCane Godman

Alix de Jersey (Tasmanian School of Medicine, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia) and colleagues have published in the journal Science Advances on the harmful effects of plastic ingestion by Near Threatened Flesh-footed Shearwater Ardenna carneipes chicks (also described as the Pale-footed or Sable Shearwater).

Four hundred and three pieces of plastic removed from a Flesh-footed Shearwater chick (from the publication)

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Understanding plastics’ harmful impacts on wildlife would benefit from the application of hypothesis agnostic testing commonly used in medical research to detect declines in population health.  Adopting a data-driven, proteomic approach, we assessed changes in 745 proteins in a free-living nonmodel organism with differing levels of plastic exposure.  Seabird chicks heavily affected by plastic ingestion demonstrated a range of negative health consequences:  Intracellular components that should not be found in the blood were frequently detected, indicative of cell lysis.  Secreted proteins were less abundant, indicating that the stomach, liver, and kidneys are not functioning as normal.  Alarmingly, these signatures included evidence of neurodegeneration in <90-day-old seabird chicks with high levels of ingested plastic.  The proteomic signatures reflect the effects of plastic distal to the site of exposure (i.e., the stomach).  Notably, metrics commonly used to assess condition in wildlife (such as body mass) do not provide an accurate description of health or the impacts of plastic ingestion.”

Read popular accounts of the publication here, here and here.

Reference:

de Jersey. A.M., Lavers, J.L., Wilson, R., Zosky, G.R. & Rivers-Auty, J. 2025.  Seabirds in crisis: plastic ingestion induces proteomic signatures of multiorgan failure and neurodegeneration.  Science Advances 11(11).

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 13 March 2025

 The 15th International Effects of Oil on Wildlife Conference (EOW2025) will be held for the first time outside of North America in Cape Town, South Africa over 13-17 October 2025.  The decision to hold the event in South Africa aims to highlight the plight of the Critically Endangered African Penguin Spheniscus demersus.  By holding the conference in the Southern Hemisphere, EOW2025 will also offer an opportunity for many new partners worldwide to participate.

This conference will be co-hosted by the South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) and Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research. based in Delaware, USA.  “Born out of the need to bring together those that found themselves responding to the impacts on wildlife following oil spills, EOW will continue to provide a platform for collaboration between international wildlife and industry experts of all specializations, government agencies and other key partners on topics of wildlife protection, treatment and rehabilitation.

For information on the conference including submission of abstracts (by 1 April),registration (from 1 May),  event location, social events, workshops, sponsors, hotel bookings, etc. click here.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 12 March 2025