Balearic Shearweater at sea, photograph by Pep Arcos

Maite Louzao (Marine Research, Basque Research and Technology Alliance, Pasaia, Spain) and colleagues have published open access in the electronic journal PeerJ on the at-sea movements of juvenile Balearic Shearwaters Puffinus mauretanicus (Critically Endangered).

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Increasing human activities have detrimental consequences on marine ecosystems and their impact can have cumulative effects. Within marine ecosystems, seabirds respond to ecosystem variability and face multiple human pressures, especially threatened species. In long-lived species, juveniles and immatures could represent up to 50% of the total population, but their migratory movements remain largely unknown. Here, we depict the migratory patterns of juvenile Balearic shearwaters Puffinus mauretanicus, the most threatened European seabird, using miniaturised satellite transmitters. At the end of the 2012 breeding season, five tagged juveniles left the breeding colonies of Eivissa Island (western Mediterranean) the first week of July. They moved westwards to reach the Atlantic Ocean between 3 and 13 days afterwards. Juveniles showed a two-phase migratory pattern: they first travelled slower close to the breeding colonies, and then moved towards their wintering areas in the Atlantic Ocean by rapid directional movements. Environmental cues (e.g.,marine productivity, water mass distribution, frontal systems) might have a prominent role in driving the migratory patterns of juvenile Balearic shearwaters, moving from warm and poor marine areas in the Mediterranean Sea to cooler and rich non-breeding grounds in the Atlantic Ocean. Based on observational findings, we observed certain spatial overlap of juvenile Balearic shearwaters with areas of high human impact, but the relationship between flying travel speed and both fishing effort and cumulative human impacts were not statistically significant. These results suggest that more research is needed to assess whether the movement patterns of migrating juveniles are affected by human activities. Therefore, understanding the at-sea spatial ecology of juveniles should be a priority for research and conservation due to the importance of this population component in long-lived species, as well as assessing their vulnerability to multiple anthropogenic pressures.”

Reference:

Louzao, M., Delord, K., García, D., Afán, I., Arcos, J.M. & Weimerskirch, H. 2021.  First days at sea: depicting migration patterns of juvenile seabirds in highly impacted seascapes. PeerJ 9: e11054 doi.org/10.7717/peerj.11054.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 19 May 2021

The South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO) is an inter-governmental organisation that is committed to the long-term conservation and sustainable use of the fishery resources of the South Pacific Ocean.  The Secretariat of the Commission for the SPRFMO is headquartered in Wellington, New Zealand.  The SPRFMO Convention applies to the high seas of the South Pacific, covering about a fourth of the Earth's high-seas areas. Currently, the main commercial resources fished in the SPRFMO area are Pacific Jack Mackerel Trachurus symmetricus and Jumbo Flying or Humboldt Squid Dosidicus gigas in the south-east Pacific and, to a much lesser degree, deep-sea species often associated with seamounts in the south-west Pacific.

The SPRFMO Commission is now inviting applications for the position of Data Manager.  The appointee will be responsible for a wide range of data-related activities, including the design and efficient operation of fisheries data systems, data collection, quality checking, data storage, and facilitation of appropriate data access. The position involves some website administration and support for science (as necessary).

Area covered by the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation

“This is a cool little Secretariat and everyone is desperately wanting to join us, so we suggest you submit your application sooner rather than later” (from the SPRFMO Facebook page).  Applications must be received by 29 June 2021.  Read more here on the post and application process.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 18 May 2021

Antipodean Albatross, artwork by Kitty Harvill from a photograph by Kirk Zufelt

A video directed by Brendan Donovan and presented by Live Ocean, a “marine conservation charity with a mission to amplify and accelerate positive ocean action in New Zealand”, has been selected as a 2021 Sylvia Earle Ocean Conservation Award finalist as part of the MY HERO International Film Festival.

 ‘Sentinel of the Ocean’ a story of the plight of the Antipodean Albatross

The short (4 min 12 sec) Live Ocean video was released last year to mark the inaugural World Albatross Day on 19 June to draw attention to the conservation crisis facing New Zealand’s endemic Antipodean Albatross Diomedea antipodensis (globally Endangered and Nationally Critical).   Winners will be announced on World Ocean Day on 8 June, just 11 days before this year’s World Albatross Day with its theme “Ensuring Albatross-friendly Fisheries”.  See details of all the seven finalists here.  Read about Live Ocean and its work for the Antipodean Albatross here.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 16 May 2021

Black-browed Albatrosses, photograph by Letizia Campioni 

Natasha Gillies (Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, UK) and colleagues have published open access in the ornithological journal Ibis on allopreening by Black‐browed Albatrosses Thalassarche melanophris.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“The functions of display between breeding pairs of animals have been given little attention outside of sexual selection. Yet evidence suggests that display between partners is in fact most commonly observed following mate choice, and is often just as elaborate. In many bird species, allopreening, when one member of a pair preens the other, is a major component of display both pre‐ and post‐pair formation. Despite this, there has been little investigation into its functions. Explanations that have been put forward tend to focus on its role in feather hygiene, which has limited phylogenetic support, or its function in the maintenance of the pair bond, though how this might occur or indeed what this actually represents has not been adequately explained. Phylogenetic evidence reveals that allopreening is most commonly observed in those species exhibiting high levels of partner retention and biparental care, and it appears to be functional in maintaining cooperation in parental behaviour in at least one species. In our observational study, we explored the patterns and putative functions of allopreening during the nest‐relief displays of breeding pairs of Black‐browed Albatrosses Thalassarche melanophris during incubation and chick‐provisioning. Allopreening was an important feature of displays, constituting 30% of display time. We found that the bird returning from its foraging trip usually initiated allopreening, and preened more than its partner prior to change‐over of nesting duties. We further found a positive relationship between the amount of time the pair spent in display and the duration of the subsequent foraging trip, providing tentative support for a function in maintaining cooperative parental behaviour between the parents. Although we cannot be conclusive as to its exact functions, we add to a limited literature the first exploration of functions for this conspicuous behaviour in albatrosses.”

With thanks to Barry Baker.

Reference:

Gillies, N., Guilford, T. & Catry, P. 2021.  Allopreening in the Black‐browed Albatross (Thalassarche melanophris): an exploration of patterns and possible functions.  Ibis  doi.org/10.1111/ibi.12960.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 16 May 2021