The UK’s British Antarctic Survey (BAS) has received funding from Darwin Plus to undertake radar tracking of fishing vessels with globally Vulnerable Wandering Albatrosses Diomedea exulans in the South Atlantic.

Wandering Albatross at sea in the South Atlantic, photograph by Kirk Zufelt

“One of the successful [funded] schemes will see albatrosses and petrels benefit from further research using ‘bird-borne’ radar devices.  The project is being run by scientists at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), the attached radars will measure how often tracked wandering albatrosses interact with legal and illegal fishing vessels in the south Atlantic to map the areas and times when birds of different age and sex are most susceptible to bycatch – becoming caught up in fishing long lines.  The project’s results will be shared with stakeholders to better target bycatch observer programmes, monitor compliance with bycatch mitigation and highlight the impact of bycatch on seabirds.”

The planned research follows similar initiatives utilizing radar-tracking devices mounted on southern hemisphere albatrosses announced by France and New Zealand (click here).

Professor Richard Phillips, BAS Principal Scientist and leader of its Higher Predators and Conservation group and Co-convenor of ACAP’s Population and Conservation Status Working Group said that “The British Antarctic Survey is delighted to be awarded this funding from Darwin Plus, which is for a collaboration between BAS and BirdLife International.  The project will use a range of technologies - GPS, loggers that record 3-D acceleration and novel radar-detecting tags - to quantify interactions of tracked wandering albatrosses with legal and illegal fishing vessels.  The technology will provide much-needed information on the areas and periods of highest bycatch.”

Read more here.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 05 February 2019

ACAP Latest News has previously reported on a Laysan Albatross Phoebastria immutabilis (Near Threatened) on the Hawaiian island of Kauai that survived an attack by dogs as a chick in 2012.  Following rehabilitation and release by Save our Shearwaters (SOS) the bird, identified by its band A432,  was seen back on the island in the 2017/18 season when it bred successfully (click here).

A432 checks out her newly-laid egg in December 2017, photograph by Hob Osterlund

News is now in from SOS that the bird has returned for its second breeding attempt, with its 2017/18 mate, and they are incubating a new egg.  ACAP Latest News wishes A432 a long life and successful breeding career.

View a video clip of A432 swimming vigorously in the SOS conditioning pool while undergoing rehabilitation.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 04 February 2019

Rachael Sagar (School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, New Zealand) and colleagues show in the open-access journal Global Ecology and Conservation that best-practice translocation techniques do not alter stress reactivity or development in globally Near Threatened Mottled Petrel Pterodroma inexpectata chicks in New Zealand.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“The order Procellariiformes, or albatross and petrels, face declining populations and many species hold threatened species status. Translocations of petrel chicks are increasingly recognised as a powerful conservation tool with multiple benefits: restoring species to their former range, restoring lost land-sea ecological linkages and ‘spreading the risk’ for at-risk species. However, translocations are stressful events for chicks. Petrel chicks are able to perceive and respond to stressors from hatching at a level comparable to adults. Consequently, if chronic stress is induced in petrel chicks by translocation, it may result in energy divergence away from growth and condition, with potentially ongoing negative effects throughout the birds' lives. The aim of this research was to define how translocation impacts stress reactivity and development in petrel chicks and to use this information to guide best-practice for petrel translocations.

Mottled petrels (Pterodroma inexpectata) are a target for major translocation-restoration programmes across New Zealand. We measured total corticosterone from mottled petrel chicks at regular intervals coinciding with key translocation events from two groups: one that underwent translocation according to current best practice (Translocation group), and a group that remained in the natal colony (Control group). Growth, weight and fledging parameters of the Translocation group were compared against a multi-year source colony average. We found there was no difference in stress reactivity between Translocation and Control chicks, or development between Translocation and chicks at the source colony. Petrel translocation practitioners may proceed in the knowledge that current practices did not induce a state of chronic stress or alter stress reactivity in mottled petrel chicks, and therefore are unlikely to negatively impact post-fledging survival, and their capacity to establish viable colonies. However, we caution that these results may not apply to other petrel species with different life-history strategies to mottled petrels, and encourage testing in a wider range of species.”

Mottled Petrel and chick

Reference:

Sagar, R.L., Mitchell, M., Rayner, M.J., Stanley, M.C. & Dunphy, B.J. 2019  Maximising success: translocation does not negatively impact stress reactivity and development in petrel chicks.  Global Ecology and Conservation doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2018.e00508.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 01 February 2019

Lindsay Young (Pacific Rim Conservation, Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii, USA) and colleagues have published open access in the journal The Condor Ornithological Applications on deploying automatic acoustic “song” recorders at selected sites in the mountains of the Hawaiian island of Hawaii and unexpectedly detecting the presence of globally threatened Hawaiian Petrels Pterodroma sandwichensis (Endangered) and Newell’s Shearwaters Puffinus newelli (Critically Endangered).

Newell's Shearwater, photograph by Lindsay Young

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Hawaii’s only 2 endemic seabirds, Newell’s Shearwater (Puffinus auricularis newelli) and Hawaiian Petrel (Pterodroma sandwichensis), are listed under the United States Endangered Species Act. Threats to both species include light attraction and fallout, collisions with power lines and other structures, predation by invasive animals, and habitat degradation. Both species were assumed to be extirpated from the island of Oahu despite limited survey effort. We used survey data from Kauai (both species) and Maui (Hawaiian Petrel only) to model suitable habitat and light conditions. We then projected this model onto Oahu to identify potential survey sites. From April to September of 2016–2017, we deployed automated acoustic recording units at 13 potentially suitable sites across Oahu. We detected Newell’s Shearwaters at 2 sites; one on the leeward slopes of Mount Kaala in the Waianae Mountains and another at Poamoho in the Koolau Mountains. We detected Hawaiian Petrels at one location on the windward slope of Mount Kaala. All 3 sites were in nearly intact native forest with steep slopes. The frequency of detections at these sites suggests that both species are regularly prospecting on Oahu and potentially could be breeding there. If they are breeding, these individuals could represent missing links in the population connectivity of both species among islands. Protecting any remnant breeding populations would be of high conservation value given their recent population declines.”

Read popular articles on the paper:

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-01/aosp-pop011519.php?fbclid=IwAR0E4KBZPJ4oNauD8UMY7VupOVkfPdBIr3tjt77wuBxOo8vQXTF7X-Ycv2s

https://www.civilbeat.org/2019/01/scientists-surprised-to-find-endangered-seabirds-on-oahu/?fbclid=IwAR1e6q5e87N-HitrZLMVce4VMWPoGfD-Up8-u7XEGJkaBS_lJhJQvW8L3X8

https://www.courthousenews.com/evidence-of-endangered-hawaiian-seabirds-found-on-oahu/?fbclid=IwAR3Y1uAOiY2X1BG-BuxCWEy7IYZ1TESrK4-1xoKXzukDF-XM5bAppNttBUE

Song recorder on Mount Kaala, Waianae Mountains, Oahu that detected Newell’s Shearwaters,  photograph by Lindsay Young

Reference:

Young, L.C., VanderWerf, E.A., McKown, M., Roberts, P., Schlueter, J., Vorsino, A. &  Sischo, D. 2019.  Evidence of Newell’s Shearwaters and Hawaiian Petrels on Oahu, Hawaii.  The Condor Ornithological Applications 121.  doi.org/10.1093/condor/duy004.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 31 January 2019