The 15th International Effects of Oil on Wildlife Conference (EOW2025) will be held for the first time outside of North America in Cape Town, South Africa over 13-17 October 2025.  The decision to hold the event in South Africa aims to highlight the plight of the Critically Endangered African Penguin Spheniscus demersus.  By holding the conference in the Southern Hemisphere, EOW2025 will also offer an opportunity for many new partners worldwide to participate.

This conference will be co-hosted by the South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) and Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research. based in Delaware, USA.  “Born out of the need to bring together those that found themselves responding to the impacts on wildlife following oil spills, EOW will continue to provide a platform for collaboration between international wildlife and industry experts of all specializations, government agencies and other key partners on topics of wildlife protection, treatment and rehabilitation.

For information on the conference including submission of abstracts (by 1 April),registration (from 1 May),  event location, social events, workshops, sponsors, hotel bookings, etc. click here.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 12 March 2025

 Papers are invited for presentation at the Island Invasives 2026 Conference, in the form of either a talk or a poster.  The conference is to be held in Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa New Zealand over 9-13 February 2026. It is the fourth conference in the series that commenced in Auckland in 2001.

“Papers may be submitted on any topic relating to invasive alien species on islands, where the term ‘island’ is broadly interpreted in terrestrial, marine and freshwater systems.  The invasive species involved may be flora, fauna or funga.  The goal of the conference is knowledge transfer that enables accelerated uptake of eradication methodologies which will enhance biodiversity and the lives of people on islands around the world.  The conference continues its resolute focus on the complete eradication of invasive species of any taxa from islands or island-like bodies.”

Click here to submit, and please  review the submission guidelines carefully before submitting your abstract.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 11 March 2025

Black-footed Albatross by Colleen Laird‎ of Artists and Biologists Unite for Nature (ABUN) for World Albatross Day, 19 June 2020

Jessie Beck (Alaska Fisheries Science Center, Seattle, Washington, USA) and colleagues have published open access in the journal Biological Conservation on quantifying bycatch by US Fisheries of Near Threatened Black-footed Albatrosses Phoebastria nigripes using genetic markers.

The paper’s highlights (unusually there is no abstract) follow:

Characterizing the demographic impact of seabird bycatch is challenging.

Black-footed albatross are [sic] accidentally caught in fisheries throughout the Pacific Ocean.

U.S.fisheries collect seabird bycatch [data] that can be analyzed for population-of-origin.

We identify disproportionate bycatch from specific breeding colonies.

Genetic assignment using targeted genetic markers can tease apart populations in species with low genetic differentiation.

jReference:

Beck, J.N., Baetscher, D.S., Tobin, C., Edwards, S.V., Yung Wa Sin, S., Fitzgerald, S., Tuttle, V.J., Peschon, J. & Larson, W.A. 2025.  Quantifying impacts of seabird bycatch using genetic assignment: a case study of black-footed albatross in U.S. fisheries.  Biological Conservation 303. 110965.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels,10 March 2025

“Save my Ocean” by Anju Rajesh of Artists & Biologists Unte for Nature (ABUN)  for World Albatross Day, 2023 with its theme of Plastic Pollution

Alix de Jersey (Tasmanian School of Medicine, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia) and colleagues have published open access in the Marine Pollution Bulletin on plastic ingestion by six species of Australian petrels and shearwaters, with occurrence ranging from 0-75%.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“While the problem of plastic ingestion by wildlife is well recognised, it also suffers from a “file drawer” problem where small incidentally collected data remains unpublished because on its own, it may represent only a handful of individuals. There is great strength, however, in combining these disparate datasets to make inferences about broader patterns and therefore inform the discussion about the impacts and extent of plastic ingestion by providing data for sparsely sampled taxa. Here we summarise plastic ingestion records collected from seven seabird species in Western Australia and New South Wales, Australia to provide a baseline and updates on exposure of these species to plastics. For most of the species included in our assessment, this is the first data available regarding plastic ingestion in more than two decades. Very low rates of plastic ingestion were observed in Great-winged Petrels Pterodroma macroptera, Little Shearwaters Puffinus assimilis, and Providence Petrels Pterodroma solandri with only the adult and fledgling Wedge-tailed Shearwater Ardenna pacifica and Sable Shearwater Ardenna carneipes containing moderate amounts of plastic (>8 % prevalence). Black-winged Petrels Pterodroma nigripennis and Masked Boobies Sula dactylatra did not contain any ingested plastic. These data were collected and reported using standardised methods to ensure the information can be used as a benchmark against prior and future plastic ingestion studies. Syntheses such as these provide valuable knowledge for regions or species with limited data, and in doing so, begin to reveal patterns of plastic pollution and its relevance to seabird conservation.”

Reference

de Jersey, A,M., Bond, A.L. & Lavers, J.L. 2025. b Strength in numbers: Combining small pockets of opportunistic sampling for Australian seabird plastic ingestion.  Marine Pollution Bulletin 214. 117757.