Tyler Gagne (Monterey Bay Aquarium, California, USA) and colleagues have published open access in the journal Science Advances on utilizing seabird diet information to track changes in the marine environment. The Laysan Albatross Thalassarche immutabilis is one of the eight species studied.

The paper’s abstract follows

“Pelagic ecosystems are dynamic ocean regions whose immense natural capital is affected by climate change, pollution, and commercial fisheries. Trophic level–based indicators derived from fishery catch data may reveal the food web status of these systems, but the utility of these metrics has been debated because of targeting bias in fisheries catch. We analyze a unique, fishery-independent data set of North Pacific seabird tissues to inform ecosystem trends over 13 decades (1890s to 2010s). Trophic position declined broadly in five of eight species sampled, indicating a long-term shift from higher–trophic level to lower–trophic level prey. No species increased their trophic position. Given species prey preferences, Bayesian diet reconstructions suggest a shift from fishes to squids, a result consistent with both catch reports and ecosystem models. Machine learning models further reveal that trophic position trends have a complex set of drivers including climate, commercial fisheries, and ecomorphology. Our results show that multiple species of fish-consuming seabirds may track the complex changes occurring in marine ecosystems.”

A Laysan Albatross and its downy chick, photograph by Pete Leary

Reference:

Gagne, T.O., Hyrenbach, K.D., Hagemann, M.E. & Van Houtan, K.S. 2018. Trophic signatures of seabirds suggest shifts in oceanic ecosystems. Science Advances 4(2). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aao3946.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 12 March 2017

Philip Richardson and colleagues have published open access in the journal Movement Ecology on modelling at-sea flight of globally Vulnerable Wandering Albatrosses Diomedea exulans using GPS tracking data and concurrent information on wind speed.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Background

Albatrosses and other large seabirds use dynamic soaring to gain sufficient energy from the wind to travel large distances rapidly and with little apparent effort. The recent development of miniature bird-borne tracking devices now makes it possible to explore the physical and biological implications of this means of locomotion in detail. Here we use GPS tracking and concurrent reanalyzed wind speed data to model the flight performance of wandering albatrosses Diomedea exulans soaring over the Southern Ocean. We investigate the extent to which flight speed and performance of albatrosses is facilitated or constrained by wind conditions encountered during foraging trips.

Results

We derived simple equations to model observed albatross ground speed as a function of wind speed and relative wind direction. Ground speeds of the tracked birds in the along-wind direction varied primarily by wind-induced leeway, which averaged 0.51 (± 0.02) times the wind speed at a reference height of 5 m. By subtracting leeway velocity from ground velocity, we were able to estimate airspeed (the magnitude of the bird’s velocity through the air). As wind speeds increased from 3 to 18 m/s, the airspeed of wandering albatrosses flying in an across-wind direction increased by 0.42 (± 0.04) times the wind speed (i.e. ~ 6 m/s). At low wind speeds, tracked birds increased their airspeed in upwind flight relative to that in downwind flight. At higher wind speeds they apparently limited their airspeeds to a maximum of around 20 m/s, probably to keep the forces on their wings in dynamic soaring well within tolerable limits. Upwind airspeeds were nearly constant and downwind leeway increased with wind speed. Birds therefore achieved their fastest upwind ground speeds (~ 9 m/s) at low wind speeds (~ 3 m/s).

Conclusions

This study provides insights into which flight strategies are optimal for dynamic soaring. Our results are consistent with the prediction that the optimal range speed of albatrosses is higher in headwind than tailwind flight but only in wind speeds of up to ~ 7 m/s. Our models predict that wandering albatrosses have oval-shaped airspeed polars, with the fastest airspeeds ~ 20 m/s centered in the across-wind direction. This suggests that in upwind flight in high winds, albatrosses can increase their ground speed by tacking like sailboats.”

Wandering Albatross at sea, photograph by John Chardine

With thanks to Richard Philips.

Reference:

Richardson, P.L., Wakefield, E.D. & Phillips, R.A. 2018. Flight speed and performance of the Wandering Albatross with respect to wind. Movement Ecology doi.org/10.1186/s40462-018-0121-9.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 09 March 2018

From left Faramarz, Léa, Nicolas and Agatha, with ACAP's Executive Secretary Marco Favero (centre)

ACAP’s three official working languages are English, French and Spanish. Since 2013, the ACAP Secretariat has offered an internship programme for translation students in February of each year. The students have the opportunity to gain practical experience to fine-tune their translation skills, as well as to acquire a better understanding of the contexts in which they are likely to use these skills during their professional careers. At the same time, it is a great opportunity for ACAP to contribute to the education of translators, and in the process prepare them for their future careers.

This year’s language interns came from the School of Languages, Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics, Monash University, Melbourne (Léa Perez and Agatha Garrigos) and the School of Humanities and Languages, University of New South Wales, Sydney (Faramarz Shakibaei and Nicolas Canadas). They spent a week with the Secretariat in Hobart between 12 and 16 February.

We hope that they had a great experience and enjoyed their stay in Tassie. We certainly enjoyed their visit and appreciated their work!

Read ALN reports on the 2016 and 2017 cohorts of translation students who have worked in the ACAP Secretariat.

Marco Favero, ACAP Executive Secretary, 08 March 2018

On the Hawaiian island of Kauai there are two remarkable “albatross facts”. Firstly, much of the island’s globally Near Threatened Laysan Albatross or Mōlī Phoebastria immutabilis population breeds right among the island’s human population, making their nests and rearing their young in private gardens, back-door yards and golf courses (click here). Nowhere else in the world can an albatross be called a garden bird.

Secondly, and surely a consequence of living so close to albatrosses, is that there is a genuine affection among Kauai residents for “their” birds. Signs go up warning vehicles to drive slowly past displaying birds, lawns are mowed around occupied nests, regular appeals go out to keep dogs under control, feral cats are trapped and fences are paid for to keep pigs and dogs away from nests on rural properties.  A webcam that is aimed at an occupied nest each year can be followed live. Above these activities, some concerned citizens, such as Cathy Granholm of Princeville, are going further, recording colour bands and following the fortunes of individual birds, photographing them and posting their observations to websites, blogs and the social media, producing artworks and plush albatross toys ("plushies") and even writing books for adults and for children about the Mōlīs.

One of the most active groups is the Kauai Albatross Network, founded by author, photographer and third-year Safina Center Fellow, Hob Osterlund, and supported by members Louise Barnfield, Susan Dierker and Kim Steutermann Rogers.

Hob has supplied ACAP Latest News with the following information and photographs on an intervention to help a Laysan Albatross pair hatch an egg for the first time in years of trying unsuccessfully.

Fergie and Malia are members of a female-female Laysan pair that have been together on Kauai since at least 2010. Every year since then both their eggs get buried in the nest bowl and neither is properly incubated as a consequence. Fergie has a serious limp of unknown derivation, so it appears her attempts to kick out excess nesting materials may inadvertently cause her to dig a hole into which the eggs fall.

Following a consultation with biologists a circular ceramic tray lined with a foam pad was slid under her nest. The female-female pair was then given an egg deemed to be fertile by candling obtained from the US Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai by Robby Kohley and Eric Vanderwerf of Pacific Rim Conservation – and the infertile eggs removed. The two females took turns to incubate their adopted egg, which has now hatched. The chick has been named Amos.  ACAP Latest News hopes to report of Amos successfully fledging in a few months’ time.

Fergie on her nest after insertion of the blue plate under the nest - visible here

Fergie is given a fertile egg by Pacific Rim Conservation

Amos, hatched from the adopted egg, looks up from its "Blue Plate Special" nest

Photographs by Hob Osterlund

 Hob writes of her fellow network members: "Susan Dierker created the plushies and wrote a children's book, Albatross of Kauai: The Story of Kaloakulua.  Kim Steutermann Rogers sells photographs on https://www.albatographer.com/ to raise funds for Mōlī conservation.  Louise Barnfield posts messages and photos on Facebook of the birds nesting in her yard".

Click here to read about artifical nests for albatrosses in Australia.

With thanks to Hob Osterlund, Kauai Albatross Network.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 07 March 2018