Seasonality in sea-ice extent and breeding schedules of the study species, and temporal coverage of tracking data (see the paper for a full description)

Ewan Wakefield (Department of Geography, Durham University UK) and colleagues have published open access in the journal on Progress in Oceanography on tracking seven species of sub-Antarctic albatrosses and petrels in relation to their use of the Antarctic seasonal sea-ice zone.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“The Antarctic seasonal sea-ice zone (SIZ) is one of the most extensive and dynamic habitats on Earth. In summer, increased insolation and ice melt cause primary production to peak, sustaining large populations of locally-breeding seabirds. Due to their hypermobility, large Procellariiformes, including albatrosses, breeding in the subantarctic also have the potential to access the SIZ and track macroscale resource waves over the Sothern Ocean but the extent to which they do this is poorly known. Here, we analysed the foraging movements of breeding albatrosses and large petrels (seven species, 1298 individuals) recorded using GPS loggers and satellite-transmitters to quantify their use of sea-ice habitats and test whether they tracked seasonal drivers of primary production. Foraging latitudes of white-chinned petrels Procellaria aequinoctialis and black-browed Thalassarche melanophris, grey-headed T. chrysostoma and wandering albatrosses Diomedea exulans varied sinusoidally over the breeding season, presumably in response to lagged effects of solar irradiance on primary production. Foraging latitudes of northern and southern giant petrels (Macronectes halli and M. giganteus), and light-mantled albatrosses Phoebetria palpebrata, exhibited no strong seasonal trend, but the latter two species spent ≥ 20 % of their time in the SIZ during incubation and post-brood, prior to or at the time of the spring ice breakup. Southern giant petrels travelled hundreds of km into the pack ice, encountering sea-ice concentrations up to 100 %, whereas light-mantled albatrosses remained almost exclusively in open water near the Marginal Ice Zone (MIZ). The remaining species spent up to 15 % of their time in the SIZ, typically from 5-7 weeks after breakup, and avoided the MIZ. This supports hypotheses that sea ice presents albatrosses but not giant petrels with physical barriers to flight or foraging, and that open-water-affiliated species use the SIZ only after primary production stimulated by ice melt transfers to intermediate trophic levels. Given that all seven species used the SIZ, it is likely that the phenology and demography of these and many other subantarctic-breeding seabirds are mechanistically linked to sea-ice dynamics. Declines in Antarctic sea ice predicted under climate change could therefore modulate and exacerbate the already unsustainable anthropogenic impacts being experienced by these populations.”

Read a popular account on the publication here.

Reference:

Wakefield, E.D., McClymont , E.L., Carneiro, A,P.B., Croxall, J.P., Gonzalez-Solís, J., Granroth-Wilding, H.M.V., Thorne, L., Evans, V.W., Wood, A.G., Xavier, J.C., Phillips, R.A. 2024.  Progress in Oceanography. 103334.

16 September 2024

Albatross counters on Midway Atoll’s Eastern Island next to a WWI gun; photograph from Susan Scott

The Friends of Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge (FOMA)  has made an appeal on its Facebook page in support of the annual volunteer census of incubating Black-footed Phoebastria nigripes (Ka'upu) and Laysan P. immutabilis (Mōlī) Albatrosses on the USA’s Midway Atoll in the North Pacific.

The 2021 albatross bird census activities were captured by photographer Jon Brack in a video.  This crew counted over 500 000 nests occupied by incubating albatrosses

“Since 1992 (33 years and counting), volunteers sign up every year, hoping to be selected to count albatross nests on Pihemanu (Hawaiian name for Midway Atoll meaning "loud din of birds"). These hardy souls work eight hours a day, six days a week, counting more than half a million nests by hand, on foot, one at a time, with two eyeballs and a clicker.  Their commitment contributes to one of the longest-running data sets for Mōlī (Laysan Albatross) and Ka‘upu (Black-footed Albatross) populations.”

To prevent caving in Nunulu (Bonin Petrel Pterodroma hypoleuca) nesting burrows, counters carefully tread the ground wearing burrow shoes. A bird counter helped pioneer the so-called "clown shoe" design.  The burrow shoes distribute their weight to a wider surface that prevent burrows from collapsing.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 12 September 2024

 The next SCAR (Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research) Open Science Conference (the 12th) will be held in the Oslo Congress Centre, Oslo, Norway over 10-14 August 2026.  The conference will be hosted by the Norwegian Polar Institute.  The SCAR Open Science Conference 2026 will comprise a diverse programme featuring plenary lectures, mini-symposia, parallel sessions, panel discussions, posters and various social and excursion opportunities in Oslo and its surroundings.  The SCAR Delegates Meeting takes place over 17 and 18 August 2026 |

The 2024 SCAR Open Science Conference with the theme “Antarctic Science: Crossroads for a New Hope” was held in Pucón, Chile, from 19-23 August 2024.  The conference featured an extensive programme, attracted over 1200 participants and received 1617 abstract submissions.  The meeting was hosted by the Instituto Antártico Chileno (INACH).  The livestreamed sessions are available to watch on the INACH YouTube channel.

The SCAR Open Science Conferences offer scientists from various disciplines and countries the opportunity to present their work, network and participate more actively in SCAR’s scientific activities.

11 September 2024

The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment’s Azwianewi Makhado represented South Africa at the 2024 ACAP meetings in Peru, reporting on progress with the Mouse-Free Marion Project, photograph by Bree Forrer

The international Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP) holds annual meetings of its 13 Parties.  This year the ACAP Advisory Committee and two of its three working groups met in Lima, Peru during August.  At the Eighth Meeting of the Population and Conservation Status Working Group (PaCSWG8), South Africa tabled an Information Paper that gave an update on the Mouse-Free Marion (MFM) Project.

Co-authored by Dr Anton Wolfaardt (MFM Project Manager) and Dr Azwianewi (Newi) Makhado (Oceans & Coasts, Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment), the Information Paper was presented at the working group meeting by Newi, who is a PaCSWG and Advisory Committee Member, as well as being South Africa’s National Contact Point for ACAP.

Co-convenors Marco Favero (Argentina), Richard Philips (United Kingdom) and Patricia Serafini (Brazil) in Peru at the Eighth Meeting of ACAP’s Population and Conservation Status Working Group, photograph by Bree Forrer

The MFM Project’s Information Paper (PaCSWG8 Inf 07) describes progress, challenges, and lessons learned from other aerial baiting campaigns relevant to the planned eradication of introduced House Mice from Marion Island.  This includes information from baiting trials and the recent failure of baiting campaigns on Midway (United States) and Gough (United Kingdom) Islands.  The paper states that further trials will be conducted on Marion to examine the performance of baits and the distribution of mice in different habitats.  Undertaking additional trials and recommended investigations will impact both the project's timelines and budget.  Nevertheless, these adjustments are deemed not only justifiable but essential to better understand and mitigate project risks and optimize the likelihood of achieving a successful outcome in this once-off operation.

Attendees at the Eighth Meeting of ACAP’s Population and Conservation Status Working Group, Lima, Peru, 9 August 2024, photograph by Bree Forrer

PaCSWG8, in its report to the 14th Meeting of the ACAP Advisory Committee (AC14) that followed in Peru, welcomed the update and the continued work to complete this important eradication project.  It also encouraged the submission of a report to the next meeting, so important lessons for the planning of eradication attempts are shared globally, including about unsuccessful programmes.  The Advisory Committee Work Programme for 2023 - 2025 (AC 14 Doc. 22) includes a review and update of ACAP’s eradication guidelines (last updated in 2019), in which South Africa will participate during the intersessional period.

The Agreement had previously endorsed the MFM Project at its 2023 meetings held in Edinburgh, Scotland.  The MFM Project is gratified to receive renewed international support from the Parties to the Agreement, noting that it comes from all the nations that support breeding populations of those species of albatrosses and petrels that are known, or are thought, to be impacted by Marion Island’s House Mice.

The MFM Project will continue to report on its progress to the annual meetings of the Albatross and Petrel Agreement as it works towards the eradication of the island’s “killer” mice.

With thanks to Newi Makhado.

Co-published on the Mouse-Free Marion Project website.

References:

Advisory Committee, Secretariat 2024.  Advisory Committee Work Programme 2023 – 2025. Fourteenth Meeting of the Advisory Committee, Lima, Peru, 12 – 16 August 2024.  AC14 Doc 22.  15 pp.

Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels 2023.  Report of the Thirteenth Meeting of the Advisory Committee, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, 22-26 May.  68 pp.

Phillips, R.A. 2019.  Guidelines for Eradication of Introduced Mammals from Breeding Sites of ACAP-listed seabirds.  Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels.  10 pp.

Population and Conservation Status Working Group 2023.  Report of the Population and Conservation Status Working Group.  Thirteenth Meeting of the Advisory Committee Edinburgh, United Kingdom, 2-6 May 2023.  AC13 Doc 09.  43 pp.

Population and Conservation Status Working Group 2024.  Report of the Population and Conservation Status Working Group.  Fourteenth Meeting of the Advisory Committee, Lima, Peru, 12-16 August 2024.  AC14 Doc 14 Rev 2.  41 pp.

Wolfaardt, A. & Makhado, A. 2023.  The Mouse-Free Marion Project.  Seventh Meeting of the Population and Conservation Status Working Group, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, 18-19 May 2023.  PaCSWG7 Inf 05.  5 pp.

Wolfaardt, A. & Makhado, A. 2024.  An Update on the Mouse-Free Marion (MFM) Project.  Eighth Meeting of the Population and Conservation Status Working Group, Lima, Peru, 9 August 2024.  PaCSWG8 Inf 07.  3 pp.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 10 September 2024