The October 2025 Waved Albatross at sea off California, photograph by Stan Tekiela

A Critically Endangered Waved Albatross Phoebastria irrorata was photographed and videoed at sea on 05 October 2025 on the Cordell Bank off Sonoma and Marin counties, Northern California from a seabird-watching vessel.  This has been reported as the first record for the species north of Central America (click here).

Endangered albatross spotted in North Bay waters marks first-ever sighting north of Costa Rica”, video by Mike Carozza

What has been considered likely to be the same individual was identified from a research station at sea roughly 37 km offshore near Point Piedras Blancas, central California on 23 January 2026.  The sighting was approximately 4800 km north of the Galapagos Islands where the species breeds (click here).

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 10 February 2026

The Southern Giant Petrel with its prominent back-mounted transmitter

Christophe Gouraud, Polar Collective Seabird Surveys, photographed a flying Southern Giant Petrel Macronectes giganteus with a back-mounted device at sea at 44°26S, 61°21W, approximately 300 km off Chubut Province, Argentina in the South Atlantic around 27 December 2025.

Close up of the transmitter with its raised solar panel, photographs by Christophe Gouraud

Following an enquiry by the SCAR Expert Group on Birds and Marine Mammals, the following information was received from Flavio Quintana.

The photographed bird is an “adult male fitted with an AXY-Trek Remote (Technosmart, Italy) on 31 December 2023, at the Isla Gran Robredo colony, Patagonia, Argentina.  The data are transmitted to a base station located on the island each time the birds visit the colony, both during breeding and non-breeding seasons.”

Flavio adds “This is a long-term project related to the spatial ecology of the species’ breeding populations in Argentina.  The project has been led by Flavio Quintana since 1998 and, over the past three years, has been carried out in collaboration with Fundación Rewilding Argentina.”

The Axy-Trek Remote is a small data logger with GPS, a tri-axial accelerometer and remote data download via UHF up to two kilometres with solar power (click here).

Information from Manuela Bassoi, Secretary, SCAR/EGBAMM.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 09 February 2026

A Scopoli’s Shearwater in the study colony, Strofades Islands, Ionian Sea, photograph by Georgios Karris

Catherine Tsangaris (Institute of Oceanography, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Anavyssos, Greece) and colleagues have published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin on biomarkers in Scopoli's Shearwater Calonectris Diomedea.

The paper’s graphic and text abstracts follow:

“Ecotoxicological biomarkers are valuable tools for assessing pollution effects in marine organisms.  This study investigates a set of biomarkers in Scopoli's shearwater (Calonectris diomedea) from a colony in the Eastern Mediterranean (Strofades Islands, Ionian Sea) and examines their association with seabird size (body mass and morphometrics), sex, life stage (breeder vs prospector), and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) concentrations in feathers.  The biomarker set included the micronucleus (MN) test as a biomarker of genotoxicity, glutathione-S-transferases (GST) as a biomarker of xenobiotic biotransformation, and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) as a biomarker of neurotoxicity.  Our results indicate that biomarker values were not influenced by life stage, sex, or size within the sampled seabird range, supporting their suitability for contaminant assessment.  Additionally, GST activity was associated with perfluoroalkane sulfonyl fluorides (PASFs) exposure, suggesting potential induction for PASFs biotransformation.  Neither MN frequency nor AChE activity was influenced by PFASs concentrations in the feathers.  To our knowledge, this is the first study on biomarkers of genotoxicity, biotransformation and neurotoxicity in Scopoli's shearwater.  Our findings provide baseline MN frequencies, GST, and AChE activities in this species at the largest species colony in the Eastern Mediterranean and highlight the need for further research across different colonies to assess geographic variations in contaminant exposure and biomarker responses.”

With thanks to George Karris Γεώργιος Καρρής.

Reference:

Tsangaris, C., Patsiou, D., Trypidaki, E., Xirouchakis, S., Zhang, J., Asimakopoulos, A.G. & Karris, G. 2026.  Ecotoxicological biomarkers in Scopoli's shearwaters (Calonectris diomedea) from an Eastern Mediterranean colony and associations with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in their feathers.  Marine Pollution Bulletin 226. doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2026.119328.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 06 February 2026

These four petrels that breed on Marion Island are all at risk from predation by mice …

In January 2024, the Saving Marion Island’s Seabirds: The Mouse-Free Marion (MFM) Project released an art poster “Albatrosses on Marion Island”.  The poster depicted the four Marion Island breeding albatrosses, Grey-headed, Light-mantled, Sooty and Wandering, that are all susceptible to predation by the island’s introduced House Mice.  The paintings of each albatross were taken from an infographic series being produced for all 31 species of albatrosses and petrels listed by the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels.

… as are these four albatrosses
Artwork and poster designs by Namasri “Namo” Niumim

The Mouse-Free Marion Project has now released a second poster based on ACAP Species Infographics that feature four more ACAP-listed seabirds that breed on Marion Island and are also at risk of predation by mice.  They are the Grey, Northern Giant, Southern Giant and White-chinned Petrels.

The two posters have been produced for the MFM Project by Thai illustrator Namasri ‘Namo’ Niumim, who resides in Bangkok.  Namo, who works in gouache, graduated from the School of Architecture and Design, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communication Design.  She has illustrated all the 21 ACAP Species Infographics produced to date.

Both posters can be downloaded from the MFM website and used in support of the conservation of seabirds on Marion Island and elsewhere.  They join a series of 34 MFM Project photographic posters designed pro bono by Michelle Risi, which are also available in an album on the MFM Project’s Facebook page.

With thanks to Namo Niumim.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 05 February 2026