The latest ACAP Infographic, for the Vulnerable Chatham Albatross Thalassarche eremita, the 22nd to be produced in the series, is now available in the ACAP official languages of French and Spanish, as well as in English.  They have been sponsored by the New Zealand Department of Conservation with support from the Chatham Islands Landscape Restoration Trust.

It is the 18th albatross infographic to be produced, leaving just four albatrosses to go.  The next infographic, now in production, will be for the Endangered Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross Thalassarche chlororhynchos, endemic to the Tristan da Cunha islands, part of the United Kingdom Overseas Territory of St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic.  It is being sponsored by the UK’s Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.  The three remaining albatross species are all endemic to New Zealand.

The ACAP Species Infographic series is designed to help inform the general public, including school learners, of the threats faced by albatrosses and what is being and can be done to combat them.  They serve to complement the more detailed and referenced ACAP Species Assessments, the concise and illustrated ACAP Species Summaries and the ACAP Photo Essay series.

A Chatham Albatross flies past The Pyramid, the bird’s sole breeding locality, by Flávia F. Barreto of Artists & Biologists Unite for Nature (ABUN) for World Albatross Day, 19 June 2026 and its theme of “Habitat Restoration”, after photographs by Davd Boyle and Hadoram Shirihai

The infographics produced to date may be freely downloaded at a high resolution to allow for printing professionally in two poster sizes (approximately A2 and A3).  English and Portuguese language (for a few species only) versions of infographics are available to download here, whilst French and Spanish versions can be found in their respective language menus for the website under Infographies sur les espèces and Infographía sobres las especies.

Please note they are only being made available for personal use or when engaging in activities that will aid in drawing attention to the conservation crisis faced by the world’s albatrosses and petrels – when ACAP will be pleased to receive a mention.

The infographics are created by Thai illustrator Namasri ‘Namo’ Niumim from Bangkok.

With grateful thanks to ‘Pep’ Arcos and Maëlle Connan for the careful checking of texts in their home languages.

John Cooper, Emeritus ACAP Information Officer, 12 May 2026

Swakopmund Plaza Hotel & Conference Centre

The Fifteenth Meeting of ACAP’s Advisory Committee (AC15) will be held from Monday 1 to Friday 5 June 2026, in the Swakopmund Plaza Hotel, Swakopmund, Namibia.  It will be preceded in the week before by Meetings of the Population and Conservation Status Working Group (PaCSWG9, 25 May) and the Seabird Bycatch Working Group (SBWG13, 27-29 May).  A joint SBWG13/PaCSWG9 meeting will be held on 26 May to discuss cross-cutting issues.  A Heads of Delegation meeting will be convened on Sunday 31 May in the evening.

Agendas, Meeting Documents and Information Papers for all four meetings are now available online.  Some of these, deemed to be of a particular public interest, will be featured in ACAP Latest News over the next two weeks.  Note that some documents and papers are only available as summaries.

More information on the Namibian meetings is available in three AC15 Meeting Circulars.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses, 11 May 2026

Sir David Attenborough

Sir David Attenborough turns 100 today.  Celebrations , including a live special TV show “David Attenborough’s 100 Years on Planet Earth”, are marking his contributions to natural history, broadcasting and conservation, including in the realm of the Southern Ocean.  His documentaries on sub-Antarctic islands and their albatrosses have surely done more in the cause of their conservation than any other person has ever managed to achieve.

To mark his birthday, ACAP has found four short video clips of Sir David with three albatross species, Antipodean, Black-browed and Wandering, for followers of ACAP Latest News to enjoy.

“Male albatrosses pair for life”, from Frozen Planet II

“Nature of Wandering Albatross”, from Saving Planet Earth

“World's Largest Albatross Colony”, from Blue Planet

“Endangered Wandering Albatross”, from Saving Planet Earth

Sir David Attenborough and a Laysan Albatross

“On the day of Sir David Attenborough’s 100th birthday, this unmissable event honours one of the most influential figures in broadcasting and natural history storytelling.  Broadcast from the Royal Albert Hall in London, this 90-minute special celebrates Sir David’s groundbreaking career, taking audiences on an extraordinary journey through a century of exploration and discovery in the natural world, seen through the prism of Sir David’s remarkable life and work.  The programme combines some of the most memorable wildlife moments from the BBC’s natural history archive with live music drawn from Sir David’s most iconic television series, alongside reflections from public figures and leading voices in conservation and wildlife film-making.

Accompanied throughout by the BBC Concert Orchestra, the programme features iconic music associated with some of television’s most unforgettable sequences from landmark series including Planet Earth, Blue Planet and Frozen Planet. And we hear from those who have worked with and been inspired by Sir David over the years.”

Sir David Attenborough with a Grey-headed Albatross, while filming in 1992 for Life in the Freezer, photograph by Ben Osborne

You can sign his online birthcard here.  The day before his birthday 139 170 had already done so. Hint: use a UK postcode.

The Albatross and Petrel Agreement extends its very best wishes to Sir David on attaining his century.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 08 May 2026

“Borne to Soar” by ABUN artist Peter Shearer, a wildlife artist and photographer who resides in Wellington, New Zealand.  Using Procreate, it depicts Atlantic Yellow-nosed and Chatham Albatrosses breeding and flying against a backdrop of two breeding localities, Gough Island in the South Atlantic and The Pyramid in New Zealand

The Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels is pleased to announce that its collaboration with the international collective Artists & Biologists Unite for Nature (ABUN) for the seventh consecutive year has resulted in 64 artworks by 37 artists in support of World Albatross Day on 19 June, with its 2026 theme of “Habitat Restoration”.  This brings the total number of ABUN artworks in support of albatross conservation since 2020 to 760!

This year’s ABUN Project #52 initially ran from 16 February to 19 April, with an extension to accommodate late submissions until 03 May.  All these artworks can be viewed in a photo album on ACAP’s Facebook page.

Banner design for Project #52 by Kitty Harvill, with photographs by David Boyle, Chris Jones and Michelle Risi

ABUN artists were requested to produce works featuring two albatross species.  They are the Endangered Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross Thalassarche chlororhynchos, endemic to the Tristan da Cunha islands, part of the United Kingdom Overseas Territory of St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic, and the Vulnerable Chatham Albatross Thalassarche eremita, endemic to The Pyramid, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.

Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross, watercolour by 10-year-old Alankrita Dhawan, after a photograph by Alexis Osborne

By happy happenstance the overall 700th artwork by ABUN artists since 2020 is of an Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross entitled “Dreaming of Gough”, painted for Project #52 by ABUN’s Co-founder and long-time supporter of the Albatross and Petrel Agreement, Kitty Harvill (click here). Thirty-six artworks feature the Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross, and 28 the Chatham Albatross. Ten have come from children ranging in age from six to thirteen.

No. 700!  Kitty Harvill’s “Dreaming of Gough” depicts a close-up of the head of an Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross, painted in acrylics on canvas. Gough Island where the species breeds, is reflected in the bird’s eye, after a photograph by Chris Jones

 Between now and World Albatross Day on 19 June, ACAP Latest News will feature articles on some of the artists and their works. In addition, four artworks, two for each species, will be chosen to be made into posters that can be freely downloaded from this website.  A poster depicting all 64 artworks and a music video are also planned to wrap up yet another highly successful collaboration.

“Home, Sweet Home”.  Chatham Albatrosses on The Pyramid, by Maureen Bennetts, after a photograph by Lorna Deppe

The WAD2026 theme of Habitat Restoration includes such management activities as eradication or control of introduced plants and animals at breeding sites, provision and maintenance of predator-proof fences, establishment of new breeding colonies by attraction techniques and translocations of eggs and chicks, candling and substituting infertile with fertile eggs, placement of artificial nests, supplementary feeding and hydration of chicks and adults, artificial incubation during hatching, and the use of fly repellents and sprinkler systems to improve breeding success.

The WAD2026 theme follows on from the inaugural theme “Eradicating Island Pests” in 2020, “Ensuring Albatross-friendly Fisheries” in 2021, “Climate Change” in 2022, “Plastic Pollution” in 2023, Marine Protected Areas” in 2024 and “Effects of Disease” in 2025, all of which have been supported by ABUN Projects.

With grateful thanks to ABUN Co-founder, Kitty Harvill and to all the artists who have contributed to Project #52.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 07 May 2026