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title: "Gough Island to Africa after breeding failure: at-sea records of colour-banded Tristan Albatrosses"
---

# Gough Island to Africa after breeding failure: at-sea records of colour-banded Tristan Albatrosses

Dominic Rollinson ([Percy FitzPatrick Institute](http://www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za/), University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa) has reported  in the on-line and open-access (but not peer-reviewed) publication *[Biodiversity Observations](http://bo.adu.org.za/index.php) *on five [Critically Endangered](http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/22728364) Tristan Albatrosses *Diomedea dabbenena* colour banded on [Gough Island](http://www.acap.aq/en/news/news-archive/60-2013-news-archive/1322-acap-breeding-sites-no-11-gough-island-south-atlantic-hanging-on-against-the-onslaught-of-its-killer-mice) that were subsequently observed in southern African waters.

 “All of the individuals observed were adult males, aged 19 - 35 years.  Four of the five birds had attempted to breed in the last 1-2 years, however all had failed”.

 ![](https://acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Birds/Albatrosses/T/Tristan/tristan_albatross_a95_at_sea_meidad_goranjpg.jpg)

 A colour-banded Tristan Albatross at sea, photograph by Meidad Goran

 Read more on the at-sea distribution of colour-banded Tristan Albatrosses in *ACAP Latest News *[here](http://www.acap.aq/index.php/en/news/news-archive/23-2010-news-archive/666-tristan-albatrosses-from-gough-island-visit-south-african-waters).[http://bo.adu.org.za/index.php](http://bo.adu.org.za/index.php)

 **Reference:**

 Rollinson, D.P. 2016. At-sea sightings of banded Tristan Albatrosses off the Western Cape and a review of records in southern African waters. [*Biodiversity Observations* 7.66: 1- 4](http://bo.adu.org.za/pdf/BO_2016_07-066.pdf).

 *John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 01 June 2017*