A grounded Buller’s Albatross fledgling held by Kayne Merwood prior to its release on World Albatross Day, photograph by Bridget Preece, Kopi Bush Retreat

The New Zealand Department of Conservation (DOC) team of rangers based on Rēkohu/Wharekauri/Chatham Islands has reported of a globally Near Threatened and nationally Endemic and Declining Buller’s Albatross Thalassarche bulleri fledgling landing on the main Chatham Island during the night of 18 June and then being rescued and released the next day on World Albatross Day . The team’s report on its Facebook page follows:

“Last Monday was World Albatross Day and, as if on cue, they began to fall from the sky with our office getting three reports in as many days of juvenile Buller’s mollymawks/hōpo/toroa crash landed on roads or farms where they are vulnerable to vehicles and dogs. In May/June each year these fledgling birds are taking their first flight from Rakitchu/Rangitatahi/The Sisters and Motchu Hara/Motuhara/Forty-Fours. Luckily for these birds some very thoughtful and caring members of the community were on hand and got in touch with our team. With the help of rangers and even assistance from our awesome local fire brigade they were relocated to high, windy spots to have a chance at relaunching. Hopefully they’ll be back in about 12 years’ time to have chicks of their own.”

This fledgling Buller’s Albatross was found on a Chatham Island road at night and then released from a sea cliff, photographs by Bernadette Lim, Chatham Volunteer Fire Brigade

ACAP Latest News reached out to Gemma Green, DOC Ranger (biodiversity) on the Chatham Islands for some more details. In reply, she tells ALN that so far this breeding season five fledgling Buller’s Albatrosses have become grounded on Chatham Island, rescued, and then released on high ground or from sea cliff edges where they will more easily be able to take flight. She writes that they hear of one or two fledgling Buller’s Albatrosses each year although they might not all get found or reported to us. “This year seemed to be particularly bad, maybe due to the unseasonably light easterlies we had over the past couple of weeks. It’s gone back to more normal strong winds now so hopefully no more.”

DOC marine ornithologist, Graeme Taylor says that there have been reports in the past of one or two Northern Buller’s Albatrosses T. bulleri platei showing up grounded on beaches around the northern end of the main Chatham Island and mostly in June which is the month they fledge. These have been assumed to have come off The Sisters where the northern subspecies breeds as the winds are typically northerly or westerly at the Chatham Islands and this direction would blow birds from The Sisters up on the northern beaches. But with the easterly winds this season’s grounded birds are just as likely to have come from the Forty-Fours which are well out to the east of the main island.

With The Sisters being c. 16 km away from the main Chatham Island the situation appears similar to that of occasional fledglings of the Endangered Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross T. carteri from South Africa’s Prince Edward Island being recorded ashore on Marion Island – where the species does not breed – at a distance of 22 km (click here). The Forty-Fours are about three times as distant at 50 km, so it may be the crash-landed albatrosses more usually came from The Sisters under the influence of the prevailing westerly winds.

The presumed Campbell Albatross ashore on Chatham in 2007, photograph from Graeme Taylor

Graeme Taylor adds that back in April 2007 a presumed Campbell Albatross T. impavida (Vulnerable) was found on the road near the Chatham Island’s DOC office. It was a recently fledged juvenile but separating them at that age from Black-browed Albatrosses T. melanophris (Least Concern) is problematic because both then have dark eyes.

With thanks to Gemma Green and Graeme Taylor, New Zealand Department of Conservation.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 06 July 2023

The Pacific Seabird Group (PSG) has announced “Faces of Seabird Conservation” as the theme for its 51^stAnnual Meeting being held in Seattle, Washington, United States, 21-23 February 2024. 

The theme has been chosen by PSG to shine, “a spotlight on the humans that love seabirds”. PSG have put a call-out for the public to get involved and draw attention to a seabird scientist they feel has flown under the radar, announcing on their Instagram page:

“Do you have a favorite established or aspiring seabird scientist you'd like everyone to know more about? How about a dedicated volunteer, logistics coordinator, or local community member who goes the extra mile for seabirds but has never attended a PSG meeting? Or maybe you're teaching (or raising) a seabird enthusiast? Grab a camera, ask them a few questions, and send us a Faces of Seabird Conservation profile telling us who they are!”

Submissions for Symposia, Special Paper Sessions, and Workshops are also being accepted as are nominations for two awards to be conferred at the meeting.

All information about the meeting can be found at the Pacific Seabird Group’s meeting page on the website, here.

05 July 2024

At ACAP’s most recent meetings, held in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK in May, its Population and Conservation Status Working Group (PaCSWG) considered an information paper (PaCSWG 7 Inf 05) submitted by the Mouse-Free Marion (MFM) Project and co-written by Dr Azwianewi Makhado (South African Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, DFFE) and Dr Anton Wolfaardt (MFM Project Manager). Their paper sets out the background and need for the project that aims to eradicate House Mice on Marion Island and reports on its current status. It ends by inviting the PaCSWG, ACAP and ACAP Parties “to follow our progress, and endorse and support the MFM Project which aims to achieve a more favourable conservation status for Marion Island and its globally important seabirds, including eight ACAP-listed species”. Following discussion, the PaCSWG7 recognised that this is a key project at a major global breeding site and urged all who could support the work to do so. The PaCSWG then recommended that the ACAP Advisory Committee endorse and support the MFM Project.

The 13th Meeting of the ACAP Advisory Committee (AC13) the following week heard a presentation of the PaCSWG report (AC13 Doc 09) from its Convenors that inter alia drew attention to its recommendation on the MFM Project. Following discussion among the ten Parties present, AC13 agreed to endorse and encourage support for the MFM Project, reiterating its importance (click here).

Delegates attending the Thirteenth Meeting of the ACAP Advisory Committee outside Queen Elizabeth House, Edinburgh, Scotland, photograph by Bree Forrer

The international support received from ACAP means that all six nations that hold breeding populations of one or more of the eight ACAP-listed species of albatrosses and petrels that breed on Marion Island have endorsed the MFM Project. These are Argentina, Australia, France, Chile, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Endorsement by these Parties joins government support for the project within South Africa, recently confirmed by Ms Barbara Creecy, Minister of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment in her budget speech (click here).

Dr Azwianewi Makhado (DFFE and South Africa’s National Contact Point for the Agreement) writes: “South Africa appreciates the support and endorsement of the progress coming from ACAP’s Advisory Committee at its Thirteenth Meeting held in May. It also appreciates the effort being made by the MFM Project to eradicate mice on Marion Island. The country will continue to provide support for this important project to help conserve the albatross and petrel species that breed on the island.”

Dr Sue Tonin, MFM’s recently appointed Assistant Project Manager, also expresses her thanks: “ACAP’s welcome support of the eradication of House Mice from Marion Island reflects an international understanding of the effectiveness of this approach for protecting vulnerable procellariforms breeding on the world’s islands. The Mouse-Free Marion Project Team is reliant on the pioneering nations, organizations and individuals who are continually refining the techniques we will be using in this operation, and on the dedicated support of researchers and policymakers.”

Non-breeding Wandering Albatrosses “gam” on Marion Island, photograph by Alexis Osborne, poster design by Michelle Risi

The international and national endorsements received by the MFM Project are an encouragement to the project’s team and its many supporters and funders in South Africa and around the world to intensify their efforts to ensure the end of Marion’s mice. On a personal note I have visited Marion Island no less than 31 times over a 40-year career as a marine ornithologist, the last time in 2014. I continue to feel a passion for the island and am pleased I can contribute to its conservation as the MFM Project’s voluntary News Correspondent.

With thanks to Robert Crawford, who represented South Africa at the ACAP meetings in Scotland.

References:

Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels 2023. Report of the Thirteenth Meeting of the Advisory Committee, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, 22-26 May. 68 pp.

Makhado, A. & Wolfaardt, A. 2023. The Mouse-Free Marion Project. Seventh Meeting of the Population and Conservation Status Working Group, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, 18 - 19 May 2023. PaCSWG7 Inf 05. 5 pp.

Population and Conservation Status Working Group 2023.  Report of the Population and Conservation Status Working Group. Thirteenth Meeting of the Advisory Committee Edinburgh, United Kingdom, 22 – 26 May 2023. AC13 Doc 09. 43 pp.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 04 July 2023

A Northern Royal Albatross in flight over the ocean; photograph by Oscar Thomas. The new treaty on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ) could be significant for the conservation of albatrosses and petrels.

On Monday 19 June, whilst albatross enthusiasts were raising awareness of plastic pollution in celebration of World Albatross Day, a momentous occasion in ocean conservation was taking place at the UN Headquarters in New York. Governments officially adopted a new legally binding instrument under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ).

After the successful conclusion of negotiations on the Agreement in early March 2023, the draft text underwent a technical edit by an informal open-ended working group before its adoption. 

UN Secretary, António Guterres, in his address to delegates of the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) pointed to the multiple threats faced by the ocean and hailed governments for coming together on the landmark treaty at such a critical time, saying:

“Climate change is heating our planet, disrupting weather patterns and ocean currents, and altering marine ecosystems and the species living there…Marine biodiversity is under attack from overfishing, over-exploitation and ocean acidification. Over one-third of fish stocks are being harvested at unsustainable levels. And we are polluting our coastal waters with chemicals, plastics and human waste. The historic achievement we celebrate today is vital to address these threats, and ensure the sustainability of those areas not covered under national jurisdiction.”

The Agreement, which has been under negotiation by the IGC since 2018, provides a legal framework for governing the vast areas of waters beyond national boundaries – over two-thirds of the ocean. It incorporates a number of mechanisms to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of BBNJ, including: 

• provisions on marine genetic resources (MGRs); 

• Area Based Management Tools (ABMT), including marine protected areas (MPAs); 

• environmental impact assessments (EIA), and; 

• capacity-building and the transfer of marine technology (CB&TMT).

Albatrosses and petrels traverse vast areas of the open ocean and cross multiple national borders, making conservation efforts complex and challenging. The treaty could herald a significant moment for the conservation of ACAP-listed species, offering a framework to address the numerous challenges faced by these remarkable seabirds. 

IGC President Rena Lee (Singapore), who has been praised for steering the Agreement to its success, has urged for its swift ratification. The BBNJ Agreement requires 60 parties to ratify it before it can come into force and opens for signature on 20 September 2023. 

More information on the BBNJ can be found at the United Nations website, here.

3 July 2023