Home schooling your children in the face of COVID-19?  Or are the children you teach returning to your classroom or are about to?  ACAP has come up with a way to keep young children occupied and entertained for an hour or two: the very first World Albatross Day Colouring-in Competition!

Earlier this year ACAP collaborated with Artists and Biologists Unite for Nature (ABUN) to produce a series of posters and individual artworks depicting the 22 species of the world’s albatrosses to mark and help support the inaugural World Albatross Day (‘WAD2020’) on the 19th of this month.  ABUN artists were also requested to try their hand at line drawings, suitable to be coloured in by children (or young-at-heart adults).  One drawing for each species has been selected for the competition, listed by species’ name below as downloadable PDFs.

To enter the competition, simply download drawings by clicking below the chosen photographs, colour in as many as wished, write the name and age of the child in the available blank space on each one, then scan or photograph the finished drawings and e-mail them to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Write “Colouring-in Competition” in the Subject Field and the child’s name and age and your e-mail address in the body of the message.  There is no limit to the number of entries submitted per child.

It is not essential-to colour in the albatrosses with realistic colours.  In fact, artistic license is encouraged, so hoping to see at least one COVID-19 rainbow albatross.  But if it is wished to stay realistic look at the photographs on which the line drawings are based.

Entries will be assigned to age classes depending on the numbers received.  Four judges of international standing (see below) will then decide on the winners and runners-up for each age category.  All entrants will receive a specially designed electronic certificate illustrated with an ABUN albatross painting for printing and prize-winners will in addition receive a high-quality albatross poster suitable for framing by mail.

Light-mantled Albatross by Marion Schön, from a photograph (see below) by Oli Prince

The competition will close at the end of June, allowing time for drawings coloured in on World Albatross Day itself time to be submitted. Judging will take place in July with the expectation prizes can be posted shortly thereafter.

Get out your crayons!

MEET THE JUDGES

Dana Hargrove stands by a print of her artwork “Cairn 2013”, photograph by John Cooper

Dana Hargrove

“My first encounter with the marvellous albatross was on a college trip to a volcanic archipelago of islands called the Galapagos.  We anchored for the day at Española Island where we encountered many Waved Albatrosses nesting, mating and conducting life, uninhibited by us tourists.  Amazed when the guide told us that their wingspan is 8 feet [2.4 m] across, we were thrilled to see one of these birds try to land.  It was eventually successful, with a bounce or two, and was welcomed by its mate with many clacks of the bill.  I spent some time drawing the albatrosses in my Visual Journal, enthralled by their behaviour and beauty.”

Dana Hargrove, born in Edinburgh, Scotland, is a Professor of Studio Art at Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida, USA where she now resides.  Hargrove concerns herself with ideas that frame our perceptions of the land and our sense of place and space; she employs a range of media from photography, collage, sculpture and installed paintings.  Represented by the Bridgette Mayer Gallery in Philadelphia and Snap! in Orlando, she continues to exhibit her work both internationally and nationally.

Kitty Harvill holds the children’s book on Wisdom the Laysan Albatross that she illustrated

Kitty Harvill

“I fell in love with Wisdom, the 68-year old Midway Laysan Albatross, while creating illustrations for the book by the same name.  She’s well named, and has much to teach us as conservationists and activists battling for the survival of our planet - patience, perseverance and setting an example by making waves that will carry forward, further than we might ever have dreamed.”

Kitty Harvill, Signature Member, Artists for Conservation; Co-founder, ABUN - Artists & Biologists Unite for Nature; illustrator, Wisdom: the Midway Albatross: Surviving the Japanese Tsunami and other Disasters for over 60 Years.
 

Caren Loebel-Fried sketches an incubating Laysan Albatross on Midway Atoll, photograph by Dan Clark

Caren Loebel-Fried

“The albatross has long been my muse.  Traveller of vast distances on long, thin, glider wings, passionate dancer, exuberant vocalizer, so committed to a mate and a youngster.  I’ve been lucky to know albatrosses, but their lives are mostly hidden from us humans.  Our lack of awareness makes them even more vulnerable than they already are.  World Albatross Day, a yearly celebration of these incredible creatures, brings the albatross into our lives, and knowledge can spark the desire to protect our natural world.”

Caren Loebel-Fried, award-winning author, artist and naturalist from Volcano, Hawai‘i, has created eight storybooks to date, including A Perfect Day for an Albatross, Manu, the Boy who Loved Birds and Hawaiian Legends of the Guardian Spirits. Birds, conservation, culture and the natural world are the foundation for her work, which incorporates the ancient art of block printing, taught to her by her mother.

Laurie Smaglick Johnson at a King Penguin colony in the South Atlantic

Laurie Smaglick Johnson

“Having spent most of my career in office buildings, from my view, the lifestyle of the albatross embodies the meaning of freedom.  Their ability to fly thousands of kilometres non-stop for days, weeks and months; to soar dynamically and blissfully in weather that sends humans rushing for cover; to circumnavigate the earth without the trappings of vehicles - all come together to create what can only be described as magical in the minds of human beings. Each and every time I am in their presence, I feel this magic in every fibre of my being.  It imy hope that World Albatross Day will bring much needed attention to the things we, the human species, do that harm these incredible creatures.  We must teach our children to love and respect all other species on the planet as much as our own.”

USA-based Laurie Smaglick Johnson has been engaged in conservation photography for 25 years.  She has photographed albatrosses in both hemispheres, with her donated portfolio of stunning images covering 17 species.  Laurie's focus as a photographer has always been on the behaviours of birds, resulting in interesting albatross ‘action shots’ taken both on land and at sea.  Laurie, now retired, describes herself as an electrical engineer and corporate executive by education and career experience; a scientist by thought process; and a conservationist by heart.

And the original photo of the Light-mantled Albatross by Oli Prince:

 John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 02 June 2020

Photograph and design of a 'virtual' WAD2020 banner, by Andrew Sullivan-Haskins

Andrew Sullivan-Haskins is the Field Leader for the Kure Atoll Wildlife Sanctuary within the State of Hawaii’s Division of Forestry and Wildlife, Department of Land and Natural Resources.  Following an approach from ACAP Latest News he has replied in support of World Albatross Day with a ‘virtual banner’.  Andrew writes:

One of the female-female pair of Short-tailed Albatrosses on Kure Atoll - with their two infertile eggs, photograph from Kure Atoll Conservancy

“Kure Atoll is considered one of the most remote spots on the planet and lies approximately 2250 km north-west of Honolulu on the Hawaiian island of Oahu.  Due to its extremely remote location, and our limited communication options, we are unable to send pictures via the internet.  Field teams are generally switched out twice per year and are typically deployed for field seasons ranging from five to eight months, sometimes without a re-supply.

In addition to the Critically Endangered Laysan Duck Anas layensis and Hawaiian Monk Seal Neomonachus schauinslandi, Kure is home to 18 species of seabirds, including the Laysan Albatross, Black-footed Albatross and the Vulnerable Short-tailed Albatross.  Our mission is to support the State of Hawaii's ongoing habitat restoration and other wildlife management programs that enhance the biological diversity, ecosystem health and cultural resources of Kure Atoll in the North-western Hawaiian Archipelago.

Andrew Sullivan-Haskins on Kure with a Laysan Albatross – and beached litter, photograph by Saxony Charlot

"For anyone who has seen or spent time near an albatross, and taken the time to observe their powerful yet graceful flight, their loving and nurturing nature, their intricate dance routines, and their remarkable ability to make you laugh and to make you cry they are humbling.  Persistent with their dedication to their own species, despite humankind's best efforts to impede these great travellers, they remain resilient.  Throughout their potentially long-lived lives, albatross battle the harshest conditions that both humankind and nature can throw at them, from Tiger Sharks Galeocerdo cuvier to long lines, flooding and disease, plastic ingestion, entanglements, and habitat loss.  World Albatross Day can help to illuminate the beauty and struggle of these seabirds, as well as many of the plants and animals around the world that are at risk due to man-made climate change, unsustainable human practices, loss of critical habitat, forces of nature, and a myriad of other challenges that inevitably lie ahead.  How each and every human being decides to live their life will impact the future of all remaining species.”

Environmental management on Kure Atoll is supported by volunteers from the Kure Atoll Conservancy, which has offered its own support for 'WAD2020'.

With thanks to Ilana Nimz and Cynthia Vanderlip, Kure Atoll Conservancy.

Andrew Sullivan-Haskins, Field Leader, Kure Atoll Wildlife Sanctuary, Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, with John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 01 June 2020

Pacific Rim Conservation is a non-profit organization based on the Hawaiian island of Oahu.  Founded in 2006, it undertakes and supports research-based management on native species, particularly birds.  The PSG’s mission is to maintain and restore native bird diversity, populations, and ecosystems in Hawaii and the Pacific Region.  With a current staff of 10, the PSG is headed up by Lindsay Young (Executive Director) and Eric Vanderwerf (Director of Science).  Husbandry work falls under the Director of Aviculture, Robbie Kohley, supported by a team that includes an annual intake of up to 10 interns.

“To stem the loss of nesting habitat for seabirds, whose primary nesting islands in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are being lost to sea level rise, we are creating new, safe nesting sites for them on high-islands by creating 'mainland islands'.  Our two current flagship projects are the Nihoku Ecosystem Restoration Project at Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge on the island of Kaua‘i and the Albatross Translocation Project at the James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge on Oahu.  Both projects involve full-scale ecosystem restoration from predator proof fencing, to predator removal, habitat restoration and seabird translocation to restore the avifauna of the area.”  As part of the PRC’s “No Net Loss” programme, chicks of seven procellariiform species have been or are being translocated, including two ACAP-listed and globally Near Threatened albatrosses, Black-footed Phoebastria nigripes and Laysan P. immutabilis to the James Campbell NWR.

Earlier in the year ACAP Latest News reached out to Pacific Rim Conservation with a request for it to support next month’s inaugural World Albatross Day with a banner.  Once again, COVID-19 restrictions have got in the way, requiring a change of plan from the communally designed and displayed ‘WAD2020’ banners that ALN has been featuring from other albatross breeding sites – such as on Midway Atoll.  With no accommodation on site the aviculture team has been commuting daily to the national wildlife reserve to hand feed the translocated Black-footed Albatross chicks, as much as possible practicing social distancing in separate vehicles.  Five of the 2020 intern cohort then continued the practice of keeping apart by posing for individual photographs holding up their artwork commemorating World Albatross Day - as illustrated here.

Carly Kano

Emily Reichard

Glenn Meador

Liliana Tobar

Madison O'Brien

 With thanks to Lindsay Young, Pacific Rim Conservation.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 31 May 2020

From left at back: Aude Boutet, Jaime Catry, Paulo Catry; at front: Tash Gillies, Amanda Kuepfer, Martin Beal, Francesco Venture & Lisa Gouck in the 'The Bowl' colony

This last austral summer a research group led by the Atlantic Migrants Group based at MARE-ISPA in Portugal travelled to New Island, Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)* to undertake research on breeding Black-browed Albatrosses Thalassarche melanophris.

New Island was first established as a private nature reserve in 1972.  The island is owned and managed by the New Island Conservation Trust.

Led by MARE-ISPA’s Paulo Catry, albatross research conducted on New Island included annual population monitoring for long-term demographic studies, tracking of breeding birds for foraging studies, and observational work looking at pair-bonding behaviour within the colony.  Colleagues from the Oxford Navigation Group, Oxford University and from elsewhere contributed to the field work.  Two members of the field team, Martin Beal and Amanda Kuepfer, found time to make a World Albatross Day banner, using a wooden board and marker pens.  Not to be outdone, Aude Boutet made an ‘Albatross Christmas Tree’, which was first used for the team’s Christmas celebrations.

From left:  Tash Gillies, Francesco Ventura, Martin Beal, Jaime Catry, Paulo Catry, Brendon Lee; in front: Amanda Kuepfer & Aude Boutet

In addition to the albatross work by MARE-ISPA, other researchers present on the island monitored populations of Thin-billed Prions Pachyptila belcheri, Southern Rockhopper Penguins Eudyptes chrysocome and Imperial Cormorants Phalacrocorax atriceps.  One of the last WAD2020 banner photos to be submitted, Martin informs ACAP Latest News that the researchers were fortunate to get back to their respective homes before international travel restrictions due to COVID-19 kicked in.

With thanks to Martin Beal & Paulo Catry, MARE-ISPA.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 30 May 2020

*A dispute exists between the Governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (Islas Georgias del Sur y Islas Sandwich del Sur) and the surrounding maritime areas.