UPDATE:  The tracked birds have been travelling in a north-easterly direction and are starting to pass the southern tip of Africa - and Cape Town where ACAP's Information Officer lives.  One bird has flown over 10 700 km as of 10 June.  Access the regularly updated tracking map here.

A Grey-headed Albatross chick from the 2018 Bird Island cohort.  The satellite tracker's aerial can be seen. Photograph by Derren Fox

ACAP meetings in Brazil this and last week heard of research conducted on 16 globally Endangered Grey-headed Albatross Thalassarche chrysostoma chicks close to fledging fitted with PTTs (“Platform Transmitter Terminals” or satellite trackers) at Bird Island, South Georgia/Islas Georgias del Sur* in the South Atlantic during May last year.  The Bird Island population is an ACAP Priority Population for study as it is currently considered to be declining in size with annual survival rates of juveniles lower than expected.  One bird flew across the southern Indian Ocean past New Zealand into the Pacific Ocean, travelling a total of 49 604 km when last recorded on 12 December 2018 (see also abstract at PaCSWG5 Inf 19).

 “There are records from observers on board fishing vessels that immature birds are killed in pelagic longline fisheries in some areas that are not used regularly by nonbreeding adults. In addition, circumstantial evidence suggests that because of the population decline there may have been a density-dependent increase in predation by giant petrels [Macronectes sp.] of juvenile grey-headed albatrosses both as they fledge and in the few days immediately thereafter when they often rest on the sea close to the island.

For these reasons, there is an urgent need to:

• map the movements and foraging areas of juveniles in order to determine the overlap with fisheries,
• assess the survival rate of juveniles in the initial weeks and months after they fledge.”

The work is therefore continuing with another 16 Grey-headed Albatross chicks fitted with trackers over 11/12 May this year; five of these have now fledged.  The juveniles are being tracked in near real-time with a duty cycle of eight hours on and 43 hours off.  As of today the longest distance travelled by one of these five is 1572 km, in a north-easterly direction.    Read more and access the regularly updated tracking map here.

With thanks to Richard Phillips and Andy Wood for information and Derren Fox for the photograph.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 17 May 2019, updated 10 June 2019

*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.

“George” and “Geraldine”, a pair of globally Vulnerable Short-tailed Albatrosses Phoebastria albatrus, that have been attempting to breed on Sand Island in the USA’s Midway Atoll are thought to have fledged their first chick this year – and the first for the island (click here).  The albatross pair arrived on the island in late October 2018 within one day of each other, subsequently laying and incubating an egg which hatched on 3 January.

“George” (right) and “Geraldine” together on Midway in 2018, photograph by USFWS volunteer, Madalyn Riley

George stands by his 2019 chick, photograph by Bob Peyton

George, the male of the pair, a bird in adult plumage, has been visiting Midway Atoll since November 2006 (when known as “Lonesome George”).  He hatched from the colony on Japan’s Torishima in 2003 and was banded there as a chick.  Geraldine, an assumed younger bird, is still in sub-adult plumage and is suspected to be an individual that was banded on Torishima in April 2008.  She was first observed on Sand Island in early 2012.  The two birds were first seen together on the island in late 2016.  Last season (2017/18) the pair incubated a Black-footed Albatross P. nigripes egg, which hatched and resulted in a fledged chick.  Now they have fledged their own chick.

USFWS biologists Keely Hassett (left) and Kelly Goodale band the downy Short-tailed Albatross chick with Red AA08 on 6 May 2019

Banding photographs by Jon Pilssner from the Friends of Midway Atoll NWR

Previously, a different pair of Short-tailed Albatrosses bred successfully three times in four years on the atoll’s Eastern Island, fledging several chicks, the last one in 2014.

Read more postings on Midway’s Short-tailed Albatrosses on both Eastern and Sand Islands here and here.

With thanks to Madalyn Riley.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 10 June 2019

Jennifer Provencher (Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Gatineau, Canada) and colleagues have published in the open-access journal FACETS on recommended best practices for plastic and litter ingestion studies in marine birds, including procellariiform albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Marine plastic pollution is an environmental contaminant of significant concern. There is a lack of consistency in sample collection and processing that continues to impede meta-analyses and large-scale comparisons across time and space. This is true for most taxa, including seabirds, which are the most studied megafauna group with regards to plastic ingestion research. Consequently, it is difficult to evaluate the impacts and extent of plastic contamination in seabirds fully and accurately, and to make inferences about species for which we have little or no data. We provide a synthesized set of recommendations specific for seabirds and plastic ingestion studies that include best practices in relation to sample collection, processing, and reporting, as well as highlighting some “cross-cutting” methods. We include guidance for how carcasses, regurgitations, and pellets should be handled and treated to prevent cross-contamination, and a discussion of what size class of microplastics can be assessed in each sample type. Although we focus on marine bird samples, we also include standardized techniques to remove sediment and biological material that are generalizable to other taxa. Lastly, metrics and data presentation of ingested plastics are briefly reviewed in the context of seabird studies.”

Removing plastics from a corpse of a globally Near Threatened Flesh-footed Shearwater Ardenna  carneipes, photograph by Ian Hutton

Reference:

Provencher, J.F., Borrelle, S.B., Bond, A.L., Lavers, J.L., van Franeker, J.A., Kühn, S., Hammer, S., Avery-Gomm, S. & Mallory, M.L. 2019.  Recommended best practices for plastic and litter ingestion studies in marine birds: Collection, processing, and reporting.  FACETS 4: 111-130.  doi.org/10.1139/facets-2018-0043.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 07 June 2019

UPDATE:  The suite of enhancements "designed to further conserve the rich biodiversity found within the ocean" and described below have now been signed into force (click here).

"The enhanced measures include a large increase in the proportion of the 1.24 million km² MPA within which all commercial fishing activity is prohibited. No-take zones now cover over 23 % of the MPA (284,000 km²). The no-take zones protect the most biodiverse habits found within the Southern Ocean. ... In order to further reduce competition for resources between the fishery for Antarctic Krill and the abundant populations of krill-dependent predators such as penguins, fur seals and flying seabirds, the closed season has been extended by two months across all 1.24 million km² of the MPA. This seven-month closure prevents overlap between the fishery and predators during the key part of their breeding season when their foraging ranges are restricted."

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The current 1.24-million-km² Marine Protected Area (MPA) around South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (Islas Georgias del Sur y Islas Sandwich del Sur)* in the South Atlantic is to be expanded in area and also in the levels of protection it offers.  These islands support globally important populations of procellariiform and other seabirds, including seven species of ACAP-listed albatrosses and petrels.

A 54-year old globally Endangered Grey-headed Albatross Thalassarche chrysostoma and its chick on Bird Island, photograph by Stephanie Winnard

The changes include:

• Extension of the No-Take Zone (NTZ) around South Georgia (Islas Georgias del Sur)* from 12 nautical miles (22.2 km) to 30 km, increasing its area from 13 899 km² to 18 520 km² to protect the spawning aggregations of many fish species and the foraging areas of inshore marine predators
• Establishment of a NTZ and a pelagic closed area in zones extending 50 km from the South Sandwich Islands (Islas Sandwich del Sur)*, resulting in areas of 28 054 km² and 23 755 km², respectively, increasing both the size of the total NTZ and the area closed to pelagic commercial fishing activity.

Overall, the NTZs closed to all commercial fishing activity will expand to cover 23% (284 000 km²) of the MPA.  More details of the above and other changes may be found here.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 05 March 2019, updated 06 June 2019

*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.