The BirdLife national partner in Spain is known as SEO/BirdLife.  Following an approach by ACAP Latest News the environmental NGO has offered its support to this year’s inaugural World Albatross Day (‘WAD2020’) on 19 June, joining seven other BirdLife partners around the world.

nFounded in 1954 and currently with over 16 000 members and a staff of over 80, SEO/BirdLife works towards the conservation of birds and biodiversity by conducting scientific studies, disseminating knowledge, engaging in policy, performing activities related to international cooperation and developing environmental programmes with volunteers.  Seabirds and the marine environment are among the priorities of the organization (click here).

 Pep holds a Balearic Shearwater

Pep Arcos, head of SEO’s Marine Programme, has written to ACAP Latest News: “Albatrosses are iconic birds that remind us in Spain of the far distant and mysterious region of the Southern Ocean.  However, some of their cousins do occur in our own waters, such as the endemic and Critically Endangered Balearic Shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus, listed as an ACAP species following a proposal from Spain that was supported by SEO/BirdLife.  It is among SEO/BirdLife’s priorities to help save these birds from extinction, and World Albatross Day is an ideal way of recalling all of them, and to let people know about their value and the threats they face”.

“Los albatros son aves icónicas que, a los que vivimos en España, nos hacen pensar en las remotas y misteriosas aguas de los mares del sur.  Pero nuestras aguas también acogen a algunos de su ‘primos’, como la críticamente amenazada pardela balear Puffinus mauretanicus, que entró en la lista de especies prioritarias de ACAP a propuesta de España y con apoyo de SEO/BirdLife.  Salvar de la extinción a todas estas aves es una de las prioridades de SEO/BirdLife, y el Día Mundial de los Albatros nos brinda la oportunidad de darles visibilidad ante el gran público, y concienciarle acerca de sus amenazas.”     

 SEO/BirdLife also has a working group on seabirds, the Grupo Ibérico de Aves Marinas (Iberian Marine Bird Group, GIAM), formed by amateurs and professionals interested in seabirds and their habitats, that engage in coordinated actions of monitoring and conservation, in liaison with the Marine Programme and other areas of the organization.  GIAM conducts campaigns focused on seabirds at different times depending on the threats and needs that arise.

SEO/BirdLife Chief Executive Officer, Asunción Ruiz, coordinated SEO’s work on a EU-funded LIFE project devoted to the Balearic Shearwater (1998-2001), and has written a book on the species (Ruiz & Martí 2004 La pardela balear).  She writes to ACAP Latest News:

“Los albatros son verdaderas joyas del medio marino, y desde SEO/BirdLife no dudamos en sumarnos a apoyar un Día Mundial para estas emblemáticas aves. Un día que también dará visibilidad a nuestro ‘albatros particular’, la pardela balear, un diamante en bruto de nuestras aguas por cuya conservación trabajamos desde hace ya muchos años, un tesoro marino que no podemos permitir que vuele hacia la extinción”. 

"Albatrossess are true jewels of the marine environment, and we at SEO/BirdLife did not hesitate to join a World Day initiative for these iconic birds; I hope this will also bring visibility to a rough diamond of our own seas, our ‘particular albatross’, the Balearic shearwater, a species that has been on the focus of our conservation work for years, a marine treasure that we cannot let fly towards extinction.”

Spain is one of the first of the 13 ACAP Parties, following its ratification of the Agreement in August 2003.  It hosted the Fifth Session of the Meeting of the Parties (MoP5) in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in May 2015 when Balearic Shearwater was listed in the Agreement.  SEO/BirdLife’s ‘Pep’ Arcos attended the meeting as an observer, representing BirdLife International.  He is also a member of ACAP’s Population and Conservation Status Working Group (PaCSWG) and has attended several meetings of this group.

Balearic Shearwater at sea, photograph by Pep Arcos

Read of support for WAD2020 received from BirdLife national partners in Australia, France, New Zealand, Portugal, South Africa and the United Kingdom (all countries that are Parties to ACAP), from a BirdLife regional partner, Falklands Conservation, as well as from the Chief Executive of BirdLife International, Patricia Zurita.

Click here to read SEO/BirdLife's own post in Spanish on World Albatross Day.

With thanks to Pep Arcos.  ACAP Latest News extends its best wishes to its friends in Spain and to all its inhabitants in a difficult time.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 30 March 2020

Friends of Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge (FoHI) is a non-profit organization dedicated to connecting you with the nature and culture of the USA's Northwestern Hawaiian Islands through education and outreach.  We represent the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge (HINWR) part of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (which also includes Kure and Midway Atolls).  FoHI is a non-profit partner of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, supporting their projects through fundraising and advocacy.

The HINWR encompasses Nihoa Island through to Pearl and Hermes Atoll.  Land and seascapes include sheer rocky cliffs emerging from the sea, sandy islands and atolls, and broad shallow reefs with no emergent land.  The HINWR was established by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1909 to provide legal protection for the seabirds living on these remote islands and atolls that were once slaughtered for their plumage and eggs.  Currently, the eight islands and atolls within the Refuge support predator-free nesting grounds for Laysan (Mōlī) and Black-footed (Ka'upu) Albatrosses.

Albatrosses are not only ecologically significant to the atolls by depositing guano essential for native vegetation to thrive, but they are also culturally significant.  Albatrosses return to land in November during the Makahiki season, which celebrates hard work in producing food during the previous months.  This celebration is dedicated to the Hawaiian god Lono, whose earthly manifestation is believed to be an albatross.  Further, the Hawaiian name for Laysan Albatross, Mōlī, refers to tattooing implements made from their bones.

The Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument supports the majority of the world’s Mōlī and Ka'upu populations.  Whereas islands in HINWR are predator (and most of the time, human) free, threats to albatrosses in the refuge include invasive plant species and climate-change induced habitat loss.  FoHI supports quarantine protocols to prevent invasive species introductions to these fragile islands, and translocation projects by Pacific Rim Conservation, including relocating albatross and petrel chicks from the Refuge to predator-proof areas on high islands in the main Hawaiian Islands.

Nicole Galase tries to blend into the albatross colony on Midway Atoll

Several of the FoHI Board members have been fortunate to spend time living among the albatrosses in the HINWR.  FoHI Chair Nicole Galase: “Albatross are great reminders that everything is interconnected.  Seabirds are important for many reasons, one of which is the great job they do to cycle nutrients from the ocean to the land.”

Ilana Nimz in a therapy session with a Laysan Albatross on Kure Atoll

FoHI Vice Chair Ilana Nimz: “My friend once stated ‘albatrosses are the most bird,’ which I feel is such a humorous, sincere, and perfect description of these animals.  Albatrosses have evolved to withstand extremes, and I am optimistic about their persistence into an uncertain future.  Getting people to care about them is step one, and I appreciate that World Albatross Day will spotlight their magnificence on a global stage.”

Ilana Nimz, Vice Chair, Friends of Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge, 29 March 2020

Areas of Ecological Significance identified include around sub-Antarctic islands where most ACAP-listed species breed

Mark Hindell (Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia) and many colleagues have published in the journal Nature on tracking marine predators to protect Southern Ocean ecosystems.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Southern Ocean ecosystems are under pressure from resource exploitation and climate change.  Mitigation requires the identification and protection of Areas of Ecological Significance (AESs), which have so far not been determined at the ocean-basin scale.  Here, using assemblage-level tracking of marine predators, we identify AESs for this globally important region and assess current threats and protection levels.  Integration of more than 4,000 tracks from 17 bird and mammal species reveals AESs around sub-Antarctic islands in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans and over the Antarctic continental shelf.  Fishing pressure is disproportionately concentrated inside AESs, and climate change over the next century is predicted to impose pressure on these areas, particularly around the Antarctic continent.  At present, 7.1% of the ocean south of 40°S is under formal protection, including 29% of the total AESs.  The establishment and regular revision of networks of protection that encompass AESs are needed to provide long-term mitigation of growing pressures on Southern Ocean ecosystems.”

Read popular accounts of the publication here and here.

Reference:

Hindell, M.A., Reisinger, R.R., Ropert-Coudert, Y. et al. 2020.  Tracking of marine predators to protect Southern Ocean ecosystems. Nature  doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2126-y.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 28 March 2020

Results of mouse attacks on Laysan Albatrosses on Midway Atoll

The postponement of this year’s attempt to eradicate House Mice on Gough Island due to travel restrictions in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic was recently reported in ACAP Latest News (click here).  Now comes the news that a similar operation also set to take place on Midway Atoll this year has been postponed – for much the same reason, but  additionally due to concerns over ‘social distancing’.

The statement from the Pacific Region of the US Fish and Wildlife Service follows in full:

“Due to the rapidly evolving outbreak of respiratory disease caused by a novel (new) coronavirus (COVID-19), increasing travel restrictions, and following new guidance from the White House and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for reduced travel and social distancing, it has become necessary to postpone the implementation of the Seabird Protection Project.  Right now we are working hard to ensure that the planning and preparation of the past three years is not lost, and we are coming up with a path forward to ensure that we are in the best possible place to complete this project in the future.

Although this was a difficult call to make, the safety and health of our staff and volunteers [have] to be paramount.  We are closely monitoring the situation, keeping staff informed, and taking action as needed by following the most current guidance from the CDC, OPM, OEM and other health authorities.

In addition to the health concerns, the increasingly uncertain nature of travel restrictions occurring during some of the key early implementation stages of the project made it clear that moving forward now was simply not feasible.

Midway Atoll is one of the most important seabird colonies in the world, and we remain committed to ensuring that the birds who rely on Midway have a safe and rodent-free future. When we move forward with this project we have to do it the right way, and with the best possible chance at success.

We are incredibly grateful for the work that has been done already and remain more committed than ever to protecting Midway’s seabirds. Follow us here for continued updates as we move forward.”

The Gough and Midway eradication projects planned to take place this year – but now both postponed at least until 2021 – were together a large reason why this year’s inaugural World Albatross Day adopted the theme ‘Eradicating Island Pests’.  Some irony here, but ACAP Latest News expects the two eradication efforts will eventually take place - and will continue to report on them as new information comes to hand.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 27 March 2020