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title: "Spotted from space: counting Northern Royal and Wandering Albatrosses using satellite imagery"
---

# Spotted from space: counting Northern Royal and Wandering Albatrosses using satellite imagery

Peter Fretwell ([British Antarctic Survey](https://www.bas.ac.uk/), Madingley Road, Cambridge, UK) and colleagues have published in the ornithological journal [*Ibis*](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1474-919X) on using satellite imagery to count breeding albatrosses*.*

 The paper’s abstract follows:[http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1474-919X](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1474-919X)

 “This study is the first to utilize 30-cm resolution imagery from the WorldView-3 (WV-3) satellite to count wildlife directly. We test the accuracy of the satellite method for directly counting individuals at a well-studied colony of Wandering Albatross *Diomedea exulans* at South Georgia, and then apply it to the closely related Northern Royal Albatross *Diomedea sanfordi*, which is near-endemic to the Chatham Islands and of unknown recent population status due to the remoteness and limited accessibility of the colonies. At South Georgia, satellite-based counts were comparable to ground-based counts of Wandering Albatross nests, with a slight over-estimation due to the presence of nonbreeding birds. In the Chatham Islands, satellite-based counts of Northern Royal Albatross in the 2015/2016 season were similar to ground-based counts undertaken on the Forty-Fours islands in 2009/2010, but much lower than ground-based counts undertaken on The Sisters islands in 2009/2010, which is of major conservation concern for this endangered albatross species. We conclude that the ground-breaking resolution of the newly available WV-3 satellite will provide a step change in our ability to count albatrosses and other large birds directly from space without disturbance, at potentially lower cost and with minimal logistical effort.”

 ![](https://acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Birds/Albatrosses/W/Wandering/Bird_Island_Satellite_pics_s.jpg)

 (A) Part of the WorldView-3 satellite image of Bird Island showing the distribution of white dots; (B) photograph of Bird Island for comparison; (C) close-up of a representative white dot in (a), indicating pixel composition

 Read more [here](http://www.canterburymuseum.com/about-us/media-releases/counting-endangered-birds-from-space/) and watch a video about the study [here](http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-39797373).

 With thanks to Barry Baker and Richard Phillips for information and photographs.

 **Reference:**

 Fretwell, P.T., Scofield, P. & Phillips, R.A. 2017.  Using super-high resolution satellite imagery to census threatened albatrosses. [*Ibis* DOI:](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ibi.12482/full)[10.1111/ibi.12482](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ibi.12482/full).  Click [here](http://www.canterburymuseum.com/assets/Uploads/ibi-12482-Rev-EV.pdf) for a PDF.

 *John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 08 May 2017*