Field research on Campbell Island albatrosses, 2023/24

 
Southern Royal Albatross on Campbell Island, photograph by Hannah Shand

Claudia Mischler and colleagues have produced a final report on research conducted on Campbell Island albatrosses during 2023/24 for the Conservation Services Programme Technical Working Group of New Zealand’s Department of Conservation.

The report’s Summary follows:

“This trip was a follow-up project from the work done on Campbell Island in March 2020 and February 2023 to primarily determine population trends for southern royal albatross (Diomedea epomophora). Nests were counted in two study (Col and Moubray) and three index areas (Faye, Paris, Honey) to compare to historical counts. Additional aims were to resight marked birds, band up to 200 pairs in the Col study area, deploy PTT and GLS tags, and set up remote cameras on nests to monitor breeding success. Other species work included conducting photo point counts for Campbell (Thalassarche impavida) and grey-headed albatross (T. chrysostoma) and to deploy remote cameras on grey-headed albatross nests. Accessible nest sites were searched for light-mantled sooty albatross (Phoebetria palpebrata), PTT trackers deployed, and remote cameras set up at nests. Opportunistic searches while traveling or within southern royal albatross study and index areas were done for Antipodean albatross (Diomedea antipodensis antipodensis), and any unbanded birds were marked. Opportunistic searches and counts were also done for northern giant petrels (Macronectes halli) and white-chinned petrels (Procellaria aequinoctialis).

Nest counts for southern royal albatross showed an overall decline of 32.8% since the 1990s and a 26.5% decline since the 2000s. Paris index area had the highest percent change of -46.2% since the 1990s, and Col study area had the lowest at -23.6%. A total of 35 PTT trackers were deployed on southern royal albatross in the Col study area which show birds moving north to the Chatham Rise, west to Tasmania, south towards Antarctica, and to the Patagonian Shelf east of Argentina. Thirty-four GLSs devices were also deployed. For demographics, 113 nests have both birds of the pair marked within the Col study area, and 22 cameras were set up on nests to monitor breeding success. For Campbell and grey-headed albatross photo point counts, the percent change between 2019/20 and 2023/24 showed a decline in the total number of Campbell albatross (sitting and loafing birds) of 16.1% and a decline of 27.6% of grey-headed albatross. For breeding success monitoring of grey-headed albatross, five cameras covering 28 nests were deployed. For light-mantled sooty albatross, ten PTT trackers were deployed on non-breeding birds which show most birds travelling south towards Antarctica. A total of 11 cameras covering 14 nests were set up for breeding success monitoring. For Antipodean albatross, eight birds were found on the Moubray Peninsula, of which three were previously banded as chicks in the 1990s.

Reference:

Mischler, C., Thompson, T., Moore, P., Philp, B. & Wickes, C. 2024.  POP2023-04 Campbell Island Seabird Research Project.  [Wellington]: Department of Conservation.  49 pp.

10 August 2024