The inaugural World Albatross Day (‘WAD2020’) will take place on 19 June next year, with the theme “Eradicating Island Pests”.  The theme was chosen in part because next year will see an attempt to eradicate the House Mouse Mus musculus on Gough Island in the South Atlantic by the Gough Island Restoration Programme.  GIRP is being led by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) along with 12 governmental and non-governmental partners.  The intention is to drop poison bait by helicopter over the whole island during the austral winter months of June to August.

The three albatross species that breed on Gough are all at risk to mice, most notably the near-endemic and Critically Endangered Tristan Albatross Diomedea dabbenena, where attacks on chicks in winter have massively lowered breeding success over the last two decades at least.  More recently mouse attacks on breeding adults have been recorded, as well on chicks and adults of the Endangered Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross Thalassarche chlororhynchos.  Both threatened species are illustrated on ACAP’s recently released ‘WAD2020’ poster by award-winning illustrator, Owen Davey.

ACAP Latest News has been in touch with several members of GIRP’s field team to gain their thoughts on the crisis in albatross conservation and the value of a World Albatross Day ahead of the planned eradication exercise.

New Zealander and island pest eradication expert Pete McClelland (left) is GIRP’s Operations Manager and will lead the field team, travelling to the island in May.  He writes to ALN: “Albatross represent everything that is special about the Southern Ocean.  From the impressive size of the great albatrosses as they glide effortlessly across thousands of kilometres of ocean to the haunting cry of a Light mantled Albatross as it undertakes its courtship flight.   It is impossible not to be moved by these birds. To lose them is to lose part of our soul.  World Albatross Day reminds us of just how important they are and why we must work to protect them.”

Three GIRP team members, Chris Jones, Alexis Osborne and Michelle Risi are already on Gough, where they are monitoring the seabirds, recording attacks by mice and helping prepare for the arrival of the main eradication team next year.

GIRP field team members, Chris Jones, Alexis Osborne and Michelle Risi display their WAD banner on the edge of the Gonydale Tristan Albatross monitoring colony on Gough Island

Chris writes to ALN: “Until relatively recently I did not know what albatrosses were, and I think most people do not know much about them.  Learning of this wonderful group of birds and studying them over the past few years has infinitely enriched my life.  If more people learn about albatrosses, this world will be better for it.”

Alexis has also expressed his feelings: “To see an albatross soar the ocean so effortlessly is an awe-inspiring experience that one can only dream of joining them.  Unfortunately, many of these magnificent birds are threatened and if we don't do anything about it we stand to rob future generations of such awe-inspiring experiences.  World Albatross Day is a great way to
give a voice to those that cannot speak.”

Michelle also feels strongly: “Working with albatrosses has changed my life, so now I am working to change theirs.  I hope World Albatross Day can make people feel for albatrosses the same way they do for penguins.  They are equally deserving of our awe and attention and are in desperate need of action as they face a conservation crisis.”

Is Two RSPB conservation scientists who form part of the GIRP team are Steffen Oppel (left) and Antje Steinfurth (right).  Steffen writes: “Every day of the year at least one albatross is killed somewhere in the world by a fishing hook or an invasive animal that people brought to a remote island.  World Albatross Day can remind us what harm our actions inflict on the greatest ocean wanderers.”

Antje’s comment follows: “World Albatross Day not only celebrates these magnificent ocean voyagers but also creates much needed awareness of their precarious conservation status.  Whereas some threats albatrosses face can be addressed by boots-on-the-ground conservationists, others cannot.  The protection and preservation of albatrosses ultimately is a shared mission on an international scale and it is incumbent on the international community to play an increasingly active role to ensure their populations will thrive into the future.”

The eradication campaign gets underway in mid February when the New Zealand-registered yacht Evohe is scheduled to leave Cape Town for Gough with GIRP team members aboard.  ACAP Latest News will post updates on progress as information come to hand.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 18 December 2019

The 16th Regular Session of the Western & Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC-16) was held earlier this month in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, where it adopted guidelines on the safe handling and release of seabirds. ACAP was represented at the meeting by its Executive Secretary, Christine Bogle who writes to ALN:

“The Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels is very pleased that the WCPFC -16 has adopted the proposal put forward by the New Zealand Delegation (WCPF16-2019-DP07 - PROPOSAL FOR ADOPTION OF SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION – SAFE HANDLING AND RELEASE GUIDELINES FOR SEABIRDS) for non-binding guidelines on the safe release of seabirds caught alive on hooks.  These guidelines are based on ACAP advice and will help ensure that birds caught alive on hooks will have a better chance of survival.  These guidelines can be used not only for hook removal but also as general guidelines on the safe handling of injured seabirds on board.”  The Executive Secretary further noted that ACAP is working on developing safe handling and release guidelines for birds entangled in purse-seine nets.

Read more here where the WWF is quoted to say the newly adopted guidelines “should be mandatory and subject to clear monitoring and compliance review.”

ACAP submitted a paper (WCPFC16-2019-OP08 - ACAP STATEMENT ON REDUCING SEABIRD BYCATCH IN PELAGIC LONGLINE FISHERIES) to the meeting.  Its shortened abstract follows:

“The incidental mortality of seabirds in pelagic longline fisheries continues to be a serious global concern, especially for threatened albatrosses and petrels.  ACAP presented a background paper (WCPFC-SC15-2019/EB-IP-03 [ACAP advice for reducing the impact of pelagic longline fishing operations on seabirds]) to the meeting of the Fifteenth WCPFC Scientific Committee in August 2019 in which we provided an update on ACAP’s advice on mitigation of seabird bycatch in pelagic longline fisheries.  The paper summarised updated ACAP advice on mitigation and identified new areas of focus to address the continuing conservation crisis facing albatrosses and petrels, and the need for urgent and increased efforts to counter this crisis.  This paper reiterates for the WCPFC Commission the main points made in that paper, including ACAP’s continuing emphasis on exploring with our colleagues in Regional Fisheries Management Organizations, and others, ways to work together more effectively to reduce bycatch of albatrosses and petrels in fishing operations and improve the conservation status of these threatened seabirds.”

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 17 December 2019

Genevieve Jones (FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, South Africa) and colleagues have published in the journal Antarctic Science on a hybrid Black-browed x Grey-headed Albatross at Marion Island.

“A vagrant black-browed albatross Thalassarche melanophris bred with a grey-headed albatross T. chrysostoma on Marion Island at least four times between 2000 and 2009 (and continued to return to the colony until at least 2019). The eggs failed to hatch in three breeding attempts, but the pair fledged a chick in the 2006/07 breeding season. Genetic sexing identified the black-browed albatross as female and she shared all eight sampled microsatellite alleles with the chick, whereas the grey-headed albatross social parent did not match the chick. The fledgling was banded and re-sighted in its natal breeding colony in 2016 and 2018, when it displayed an intermediate black-browed x grey-headed albatross phenotype, similar to a putative hybrid photographed at sea off Australia. These results suggest that the black-browed albatross cuckolded its social mate with another grey-headed albatross in 2006/07. The failures of the other three breeding attempts at the egg stage possibly indicate genetic incompatibility with the social partner.”

The hybrid Black-browed x Grey-headed Albatross on Marion Island, photograph by Chris Jones

Read an earlier ACAP Latest News post on hybridization in albatrosses.

With thanks to Chris Jones.

Reference:

Jones, M.G.W., Techow, N.M.S., Risi, M.M., Jones, C.W., Hagens, Q.A., Taylor, F. & Ryan, P.G. 2019.  Hybridization and cuckoldry between black-browed and grey-headed albatrosses.  Antarctic Science doi.org/10.1017/S0954102019000506.

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John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 16 December 2019

Estabished in 1990 in Santos, in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, Projeto Albatroz aims to reduce the incidental capture of albatrosses and petrels by pelagic longline fishing in Brazilian waters.  Towards this aim the NGO develops and conducts research into mitigation measures that reduce seabird bycatch.  It also works in partnership with governmental and educational institutions to raise awareness among fishers and the youth of marine conservation issues, especially those facing albatrosses and petrels.  The project is sponsored by Petrobras (a semi-public Brazilian multinational corporation in the petroleum industry) through its environmental programme.

Earlier this year ACAP instituted a World Albatross Day Intersessional Group with Tatiana Neves, Projeto Albatroz founder and General Coordinator (Coordenação Geral), as a member.  This allows Projeto Albatroz and ACAP to work closely together on awareness raising and activity planning as the inaugural day approaches on 19 June next year.

Tatiana Neves, Projeto Albatroz General Coordinator

Tatiana Neves has written to ACAP Latest News in both English and her home language, Portuguese:

“Having a World Albatross Day is a great idea.  I have dedicated a lifetime to the conservation of albatrosses and petrels, so having a World Albatross Day, as recognition of the global importance of those magnificent birds and the threats they face, is important in increasing global awareness of the importance of actions to prevent their extinction.”

“Ter um Dia do Albatroz é uma ótima ideia.  I tenho dedicado todo uma vida para a conservação de albatrozes e petreis, e ter um Dia do Albatroz, como um reconhecimento da importância global para essas aves magníficas e das ameaças que elas enfrentam, é crucial para aumentar a consciência global sobre a importância das ações para prevenir sua extinção.”

Tatiana is a veteran of ACAP meetings, attending on both Brazilian Delegations (Brazil became a Party to ACAP by ratification in 2008) and as an observer representing Projeto Albatroz.  Currently she serves as Vice-chair of ACAP’s Advisory Committee; previously she was Vice-convenor of the ACAP Seabird Bycatch Working Group.  She has also written a coffee-table book on albatrosses in Portuguese entitled Albatroz um Projeto pela Vida, published in 2013.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 13 December 2019