Minister for the Environment and Water Tanya Plibersek described Macquarie Island as a remote wildlife wonderland – a critical habitat for millions of seabirds, seals and penguins. Globally Endangered Grey-headed Albatrosses such as the one pictured could benefit under the expansion of the marine park; photograph by Melanie Wells

The Australian Government is planning to add an area approximately the size of Germany to the marine protected area around sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island.

The proposed addition of 388,000 square kilometres will triple the size of the marine park, aligning with the government’s commitment to protect 30 per cent of Australia's land and 30 per cent of Australia's oceans by 2030.

Halfway between Tasmania and Antarctica, the remote and rugged island was proclaimed a World Heritage Natural Site in 1997 and is an important breeding site for seven ACAP-listed albatrosses and petrels: the Grey-headed Thalassarche chrysostoma and Black-browed T. melanophris Albatrosses, Wandering Albatrosses Diomedea exulans, Light-mantled Albatrosses Phoebetria palpebrate, Grey Petrels Procellaria cinerea, and Southern Giant Macronectes giganteus and Northern Giant M. halli Petrels. 

A Grey Petrel chick in its burrow on Macquarie Island; photograph by Jeremy Bird

Commenting on the expansion, Minister for the Environment and Water Tanya Plibersek said, “Expanding and increasing the protection of the waters surrounding Macquarie Island will allow us to better manage this important ecosystem for the future.” 

The Patagonian toothfish fishery which already operates in waters off Macquarie Island will be permitted to continue its operations under the government's proposal.

Macquarie Island's marine protected area is set to increase significantly. The map shows the island's current fishery zone (in yellow) which will become a part of the marine park. 

Parks Australia manage the Macquarie Island Marine Park and the current management plan is set to expire this year. This prompted the government to review the island's protection and management arrangements.

Consultation on the proposed expansion will open shortly and the public is encouraged to provide comment.

1 March 2023

Northern Royal Albatrosses display at Taiaroa Head, photograph by Sharyn Broni, poster design by Bree Forrer

New Zealand’s endemic Northern Royal Albatross Diomedea sanfordi is one of four albatross species being featured for this year’s World Albatross Day with its theme of “Plastic Pollution” on 19 June.  A good time then to report that the mainland colony at Taiaroa Head/Pukekura of this globally Endangered and nationally Vulnerable albatross species has hatched its second highest number of chicks in the current 2022/23 breeding season.

Despite losing four eggs to suspected poachers back in November last year (click here), 33 eggs have hatched successfully.  This compares to the 2020/21 season when 36 chicks hatched – the highest number since the colony was established in the 1930s.  A total of 41 eggs was laid and 33 chicks fledged in that season (click here).

You can follow the fortunes of the intensively managed colony on Facebook and via the 24-hour livestreaming “Royal Cam”.  View and download this year’s posters featuring Northern Royals for WAD2023 here.

With thanks to Sharyn Broni, Ranger, Department of Conservation, Taiaroa Head.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 28 February 2023

Enjoying the great outdoors: Ornithological Field Assistant, Lucy Smyth, on Marion Island; photograph by Monica Leitner

Inspired by ACAP’s rallying cry to get involved in this year’s Great Backyard Bird Count and increase the number of ACAP-listed birds in the results, Ornithological Field Assistant, Lucy Smyth, who is currently stationed on South Africa’s sub-Antarctic Marion Island, braved pouring rain to notch up her count (see table below). 

When asked about getting involved in the GBBC, Lucy responded, "A lot of fieldwork on Marion Island is very much a solo affair. Day after day after day I walk around, counting and monitoring birds from sunrise to sunset, with only myself for company. While I treasure this time alone, it was great to feel a sense of community on the day of the GBBC, and to think of all the people, all over the world, doing the same thing that day. We were all connected through our love for birds, despite the thousands of kilometres of ocean that lie between us."

A Wandering Albatross chick on Marion Island; photograph by Lucy Smyth

Lucy is a  member of the 79th Marion Island Overwintering Team who are stationed on Marion until May 2023. She has been monitoring Wandering Albatrosses and other seabird species at Marion Island.

The GBBC took place over four-days from February 17-20. Checklists are being counted until March 1, but currently over 315,000 checklists have been submitted and 7,493 species observed.

A map displaying submissions to the GBBC on Saturday, February 19, 2022. Yellow dots indicate a checklist submission, which revert to a white dot in the background.

Head to birdcount.org to explore data that has been submitted to date and to watch the GBBC’s real-time map displaying the locations of participants from all over the world as they submitted their checklists.

ACAP will report on the final results once available.

With thanks to Dr Maëlle Connan of Nelson Mandela University's, Marine Apex Predator Research Unit for alerting ACAP to Lucy's count.

27 February 2023

An artistic impression of Macronectes tinae by Simone Giovanardi, © Te Papa

New Zealand fossil-hunter Alistair Johnson has added a new species of giant petrel to the list of those he has discovered along the South Taranaki coast over the past 15 years. 

Named in honour of his late partner, Tina King, Macronectes tinae was found by Johnson in sediments from a geologic formation known as the Tangahoe Formation. The wide band of layered sedimentary rock dates from the Pliocene and was, when it formed, below sea level some 3.4 to 3.0 million years ago. Exposed cliff faces at its western end have proved a rich source of marine fossils.

The near complete skull and the fragmentary left humerus of the newly described giant petrel is the first reported Macronectes fossil. 

Skull (holotype, NMNZ S.048502) of Macronectes tinae sp. nov., partially embedded in matrix, in different views; scale bar = 5 cm. (A) Dorsal view. (B) Lateral view (right). (C) Lateral view (left). (D) Anterior view. (E) Caudal view

An image of the skulls (except mandible) of Macronectes spp.; scale bar = 5 cm. (A,B) M. giganteus, NMNZ OR.015278. (C,D) M. halli, NMNZ OR.029173; photograph by Jean-Claude Stahl (NMNZ)

Giant petrels are the largest birds in the family Procellariidae and are represented by two present-day species, both listed as of globally Least Concern; the Southern Macronectes giganteus; and the Norther M. halli.  Alhough morphologically similar, Macronectes tinae was a smaller bird than its living relatives.

“The skull is diagnosed by its overall smaller size, a proportionately longer apertura nasi ossea, and potentially by a shorter os supraocciptale. The humerus is diagnosed from both species by a proportionately less deep shaft, a more prominent medial portion of the epicondylus ventralis, and a larger and fusiform fossa medialis brachialis.”

Johnson also has a fossil named after him in a small albatross he found in 2011, Aldiomedes angustirostris .“Al” in relation to his name and “diomedes” after the Greek mythological figure from whence the albatross family was named.

The fossil has been added to the collection of the Te Papa and Canterbury Museum in Wellington and Johnson, as has been the case for his previous finds, has been gifted a replica in its place.

A paper on the newly described Macronectes tinae published open access in the journal, Taxonomy can be accessed, here, or find out more about Alistair Johnson and his fossil hunting in Taranaki, in an article by the New Zealand media outlet, Stuff.

References:

Naish, T. R., Wehland, F., Wilson, G. S., Browne, G. H., Cook, R. A., Morgans, H. E. G., Rosenberg, M., King, P.R., Smale, D., Nelson, C.S., Kamp, P.J.J., & Richetts, B. 2005. An integrated sequence stratigraphic, palaeoenvironmental, and chronostratigraphic analysis of the Tangahoe Formation, southern Taranaki coast, with implications for mid-Pliocene (c. 3.4–3.0 Ma) glacio-eustatic sea-level changes. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 35(1&2), 151-196. https://doi.org/10.1080/03014223.2005.9517780 

Tennyson, A.J.D., & Salvador, R.B.A. 2023. New Giant Petrel (Macronectes, Aves: Procellariidae) from the Pliocene of Taranaki, New Zealand. Taxonomy. 3, 57-67. https://doi.org/10.3390/taxonomy3010006

24 February 2023