Satellite tracks of Black Petrels prior to egg laying

Elizabeth ‘Biz’ Bell, Kelvin Floyd and Samantha Ray of Wildlife Management International have recently attached satellite transmitters (Telonics Inc TAV-2617) to 10 ACAP-listed Black Petrels Procellaria parkinsoni in the Mount Hobson /Hirakimata study colony on New Zealand’s Great Barrier Island/Aotea.  The devices are currently tracking pre-laying exodus flights of the nationally and globally Vulnerable petrel, endemic to New Zealand.

A satellite tracker is attached to a Black Petrel

The Black Petrel is one of two ACAP-listed species up for election this year in New Zealand’s annual Bird of the Year competition (‘BOTY2020’); the other being the Antipodean Albatross Diomedea antipodensis.  The competition is now open until 15 November.  You can vote preferentially for up to five birds, so vote for both!

"The light green bird (H-34843) is just less than halfway between New Zealand and South America sitting currently at 4200 km away from Great Barrier Island - not too far from Rapa Iti (French Polynesia)"

Information from Wildlife Management International’s Facebook Page and 'Biz' Bell, with thanks.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 09 November 2020

“Mr & Mrs Lime” interact at their nest site

Globally Endangered and nationally Naturally Uncommon Northern Royal Albatrosses Diomedea sanfordi have been returning to breed at New Zealand’s Pukekura/Taiaroa Head on the mainland of South Island and egg laying has commenced.  For the sixth time, since 2015/16, the fortunes of a breeding pair will be followed through the season by ‘Royal Cam’, a 24-hour live-streaming camera operated by the Department of Conservation with the Cornell Lab for Ornithology.

Northern Royal Albatrosses female LGL (lime-green-lime colour leg bands) and male LGK (lime-green-black) or “Mr & Mrs Lime” to their avid cam followers, form an established pair that last bred in the 2018/19 season, and are now making their third attempt.   They were then also watched by the Royal Cam, raising their chick, named Karere (‘messenger’ in Te Reo Māori), which successfully fledged last year on 23 September, 243 days after hatching (the egg was laid on 6 November 2018).  The pair has now built a reasonably substantial nest which is currently hidden from the camera by long grass.

The female hatched in 2008 (2007/08 season); the male is from the following season (2008/09).  They were first-time breeders in the 2017/18 season when their egg failed, allowing them to change demi-populations and breed the next year (see the family histories of all the Royal Cam pairs here).  If breeding successfully royal albatrosses miss a year as biennial breeders.

The Royal Cam

According to Sharyn Broni a decision as to which breeding pair will be followed by the Royal Cam through the season will only be made once egg laying in the colony is completed (as of today eight eggs had been laid in the colony).   Might it be Mr and Mrs Lime in front of the camera for a second time?

Click here for the outcome of the 2019/20 breeding season.

"Relive the marathon breeding season of a Northern Royal Albatross family nesting at the Taiaroa Head Nature Reserve in 2019–20. Join male "OGK" and female "YRK" as they raise their star chick "Atawhai" from a big-billed fluffball into a giant ocean wanderer during an 8-month nesting period on New Zealand's South Island"

With thanks to Sharyn Broni, Ranger, Biodiversity, New Zealand Department of Conservation.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 06 November 2020

Underwater setter for a manually baited bottom longliner; photograph from the report

David Goad (Via Maris Ltd, Papamoa, New Zealand) and colleagues have reported to the Conservation Service Programme of New Zealand’s Department of Conservation on research conducted on project BCBC2018-01 Development of underwater line setters for use in bottom longline fisheries.

The report’s abstract follows:

“Two similar designs for setting manually baited bottom longlines underwater were developed and improved over the course of 13 trips to sea on three snapper longline vessels.

Both designs employed a similar concept with a towed wheel or guide used to force the mainline to a depth of 7 – 10 m, approximately 20 m behind the vessel. The setters were held at depth using a lead weight, and a hinged arm and paravane were used to provide stability and to separate the tow cable from the longline.

Matching snood clip and wheel design so that hooks were guided beside the wheel showed promise, though further work is needed to achieve this consistently and to reliably deploy floats and weights.

The setter with a guide was improved iteratively and sanma and squid baits were successfully deployed at depth. Pilchard baits were more fragile and loss rates, even before entering the setter, were unacceptably high.

Initially, gear was deployed at high mainline tension as this provided better angles of attack for the mainline entering the setter, greater mainline retention, and deeper deployment depths at speed. However, setting baits at depth with high mainline tension returned lower catch rates and higher bait return rates than gear set normally, with minimal mainline tension. Deploying gear through the setter with a guide at low mainline tension improved catch rates but produced more curvature in the mainline between the vessel and the setter, which required some trade off in speed and achievable depth.

Further work is necessary to accurately measure and control mainline tension, and to investigate optimal setter configuration to maximise deployment depth, setting speed, and catch rates at low mainline tension.

Underwater setting has the potential to allow fishers to reduce risk to birds and meet government mitigation standards by settings lines below 10 m depth within 50 m of the stern of the vessel, without substantially altering fishing operations.”

Reference:

Goad, D., Kellian, D. & Kiddie, B. 2020.  Development of underwater line setters for use in bottom longline fisheries. BC2018-01 Final Report Prepared for the Department of Conservation by Vita Maris.  [Papamoa: Vita Maris]. 41 pp.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 04 November 2020

Cape Verde Shearwater at sea

Lara Cerveiro (Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, University of Coimbra, Portugal) and colleagues have published in the journal Marine Environmental Research on variations in foraging trips of breeding Near Threatened Cape Verde Shearwater Calonectris edwardsii.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Pelagic seabirds exhibit plasticity in foraging characteristics in relation to oceanographic conditions.  This should be particularly relevant in tropical marine environments where food resources are naturally more unpredictable.  We studied how inter-annual variations (2013–2018) in tropical oceanographic conditions (driver of oceanic productivity) can influence the spatial and trophic ecology of Cape Verde shearwater (Calonectris edwardsii) during the breeding season.  During years of poor oceanographic conditions around the colony, birds engaged in longer trips to West Africa, showed higher spatial and behavioural consistency, and presented a wider isotopic niche.  Opposite patterns were generally found for years of good oceanographic conditions, when birds foraged more on their colony surroundings.  New foraging areas off West Africa were highlighted as relevant, especially during years of poor environmental conditions.  This study highlights the need for long-term studies to assess variation in foraging areas and foraging decisions by seabird populations.”

Reference:

Cerveira, L.R., Ramos, J.A., Rodrigues, I., Almeida, N., Araújo, P.M., dos Santos, I., Vieira, C.,  Jorge M. Pereira, J.M., Ceia, F.R., Geraldes, P., Melo, T. & Paiva, V.H. 2020.  Inter-annual changes in oceanic conditions drives spatial and trophic consistency of a tropical marine predator.  Marine Environmental Research 162.  doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2020.105165.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 03 November 2020