A view of Japan's World Albatross Day 2025 exhibition in the Nature Centre of the Tokyo Port Wild Bird Park

This year World Albatross Day & Seabird Week in Japan featured a rich lineup of interactive, artistic, and educational activities—from a bird‑watching tour and expert lectures to immersive visual exhibits—all aimed at raising awareness and promoting seabird conservation.  The event took place over 14-20 July 2025 at the Tokyo Port Wild Bird Park, with the exhibition continuing for two additional weeks until 6 July.

Searching for Little Terns on the field outing

On 14 June, a birdwatching tour was held at the Morisaki Water Reclamation Center rooftop in Tokyo, where an artificial nesting site for Little Terns Sternula albifrons has been established.  Organized by the NPO Little Tern Project, the event brought together 50 participants.  They observed the terns as well as Asian House Martins Delichon dasypus and Little Ringed Plovers Charadrius dubius at the site.  Following the tour, those who wished to continue joined a visit to the exhibition at Tokyo Port Wild Bird Park, where Professor Hiroshi Hasegawa provided an in-depth explanation of the displays and of ongoing seabird conservation efforts.

Hiroshi Hasegawa lectures on the Short-tailed Albatross

On 15 June, a hybrid lecture event was held with 40 people attending in person, and over 60 participated online.  The programme began with a presentation by Hiroshi on a review of Vulnerable Short-tailed Albatross Phoebastria albatrus surveys, followed by five additional talks covering topics such as monitoring of Short-tailed Albatross colonies, decoy-based conservation, Little Tern population surveys, needle-felt art of seabirds and seabird photography.  A Q&A session wrapped up the day, offering attendees the chance to engage with all the speakers.

Japanese language versions of ACAP Infographics for the three North Pacific albatrosses on display were sponsored by the Yamashina Institute for Ornithology

The three-week exhibition featured a wide range of displays, including a life-sized tapestry of the Short-tailed Albatross, photographs of the species taken in Japan, an albatross decoy used for the conservation effort, and seabird-themed artworks, including needle-felt creations.  Visitors could also enjoy a picture story show, view videos on seabird research and fisheries bycatch issues, along with posters introducing seabird conservation efforts from across Japan, with a focus on threaten ed species. During the exhibition period, the venue received an estimated 970 visitors.

A similar three-week event was held to mark World Albatross Day on 19 June in Tokyo in 2024 (click here).

With thanks to the World Albatross Day & Seabird Week Events Committee for the text and photographs.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 08 August 2025

Campbell Island showing key locations referred to for seabird work conducted in 2024/25, from the publication

Claudia Mischler and colleagues have produced a final report for the Conservation Services Programme of the New Zealand Department of Conservation that summarizes research conducted on seven species of ACAP-listed albatrosses and petrels on sub-Antarctic Campbell Island during the 2024/25 austral summer,

The report’s summary follows:

“This trip was the second year of a two-year 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-GPS transmitters, GPS loggers, and GLS loggers, 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), deploying remote cameras on grey-headed albatross nests, and deploying PTT-GPS transmitters on Campbell albatross. Accessible nest sites were searched for light-mantled sooty albatross (Phoebetria palpebrata) 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 whitechinned petrels (Procellaria aequinoctialis), and PTT-GPS transmitters were deployed on northern giant petrel juveniles.

Nest counts for southern royal albatross showed an overall decline of 31.0% since the 1990s  and a 25.2% decline since the 2000s. The Paris index area had the highest percent change of -46.9% since the 1990s, and Col study area had the lowest at -19.6%. A total of 15 PTT-GPS transmitters were deployed on non-breeding adult southern royal albatross in the Col study area and tracks showed that birds moved north, mainly up the east coast of the South Island and east to the Chatham Rise, and east to southern South America, particularly over the Patagonian Shelf east of Argentina. Thirteen GPS loggers were deployed on breeding adults and removed again by the end of the trip, and 16 previously deployed GLS loggers were retrieved. For demographics, 81 nests had both birds of the pair marked within the Col study area which is in addition to the 113 pairs completed in 2023/24 (total of 194 pairs). Twenty-two cameras were serviced from 2023/24 to monitor breeding success, and an additional 12 were deployed. Based on the Campbell and grey-headed albatross photo point counts, the percent change between 2019/20 and 2024/25 showed a decline in the total number of Campbell albatross (sitting and loafing birds) of 11.0% and a decline of 2.4% in the total number grey-headed albatross. For breeding success monitoring of grey-headed albatross, five cameras were serviced covering 24 nests. Ten PTT-GPS transmitters deployed on Campbell albatross showed that most birds headed south towards Antarctica. For light-mantled sooty albatross, a total of 11 cameras were serviced covering 15 nests to continue monitoring of breeding success. Ten Antipodean albatross were found on the Moubray Peninsula, of which three were previously banded on Campbell Island in 2023/24. Ten PTT-GPS transmitters were deployed on northern giant petrel juveniles, showing movements towards South America.”

Reference:

Mischler, C., Moore, P., Thompson, H., Hamilton, K. & Pryde, M. 2025.  POP2024-03 Campbell Island Seabird Research Project.  [Wellington]:  Department of Conservation.  53 pp.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 07 August 2025

Rapa Island and surrounding islets, from the publication

Tehani Withers (SOP MANU, Taravao, Tahiti, French Polynesia) and colleagues have published open access in the journal Notornis on 11 species of seabirds that breed on Rapa Island in French Polynesia, including seven procellariiforms; among them Christmas Puffinus nativitatis and rare, endemic and Critically Endemic Rapa P. myrtae Shearwaters.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Rapa Island, located in Eastern Polynesia, hosts 12 species of breeding seabirds, now primarily found on its ten peripheral islets.  These seabirds face various threats, such as invasive mammals that prey on eggs and chicks, as well as invasive plants that encroach upon and degrade their breeding habitats. Major island restoration projects are currently underway on several islets, focusing on the removal of invasive mammals and plants. We present data collected here between 2017 and 2024 and, together with published and unpublished surveys since 1921, compile details on the distribution, population, and breeding seasons of these seabird species.”

Reference:

Withers, T., Bretagnolle, V., Butaud, J.-F., Cibois, A., Cranwell, S., Jacq, F., Laitame, T.. Luta, R., Shirihai, H. & Thibault, J.-C. 2025.  Breeding seabird assemblage of Rapa, Austral Islands, Eastern Polynesia. Notornis 72: 23-32.

John Cooper, Emeritus ACAP Information Officer, 06 August 2025

An Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross broods its chick on the Falaises d'Entrecasteaux, Amsterdam Island by Holly Parsons of Artists & Biologists Unite for Nature (ABUN) for World Albatross Day, 19 June 2025, after a photograph by Karine Delord

Yves Cherel (Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, Villiers-en-Bois, France) and colleagues have published in the journal Marine Biology on the diet of the Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross Thalassarche carteri on Amsterdam Island.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Little is known about the diet of the Indian yellow-nosed albatross Thalassarche carteri, which is one of the few albatrosses that breed both north and south of the Subtropical Front. In this study we aimed to detail its feeding ecology at the subtropical Amsterdam Island that hosts the most important breeding population of the species. Analysis of stomach contents indicated that chicks were fed on fish (84% by fresh mass) and cephalopods (11%), whilst crustaceans and other organisms were minor dietary components. A total of 969 fresh prey items were [sic] identified from the pooled 134 samples. The fish diet of yellow-nosed albatross is diverse (at least 36 taxa) and is dominated by Cubiceps caeruleus (40.2% by number of fish prey), Scomberesox scombroides (31.2%), and Phosichthys argenteus (8.3%). Identification of 2086 accumulated beaks demonstrates a diverse cephalopod diet (34 taxa), which includes mainly oegopsids (30 taxa). The most important squid prey were ommastrephids (44.5% by number of accumulated lower beaks), followed by Histioteuthis atlantica (15.9%) and Ancistrocheirus lesueurii (8.7%). Feather δ¹³C values indicate that chicks of six breeding seabirds from Amsterdam/Saint-Paul Islands assimilated food of subtropical origin. Using δ¹⁵N as a proxy of trophic position, the seabird assemblage is structured along three trophic levels from the rockhopper penguin Eudyptes moseleyi (δ¹⁵N = 9.6‰) to the Amsterdam albatross Diomedea amsterdamensis (15.9‰), with the yellow-nosed albatross (14.6‰) being a top predator sharing the same trophic position as the sooty albatross Phoebetria fusca (14.5‰). Anthropogenic-related items were found in 30% of food samples, and their occurrence increased from 1993 (22%) to 2001 (76%). The study sets a baseline for future works on diet, isotopic ecology and plastic contamination of the Indian yellow-nosed albatross across years and various conditions.”

Reference:

Cherel, Y., Trouvé, C., Richard, P. & Weimerskirch, H. 2025. Feeding ecology of the Indian yellow-nosed albatross Thalassarche carteri at the subtropical Amsterdam Island.  Marine Biology 172, 56. doi.org/10.1007/s00227-025-04608-5.

John Cooper, Emeritus ACAP Information Officer, 05 August 2025