Elephant Island is part of the South Shetlands Island group in Maritime Antarctica and is located in the outer reaches of the archipelago, approximately 245 km north-east of the Antarctic Peninsula.  Stinker Point is located on the south-western coast of Elephant Island. The area consists of 4.3 km of coastline, comprising 13 narrow sandy beaches divided by steep rocky walls.  Plateau areas with large fields of the moss Sanionia uncinata and scree-covered areas also occur.

View of one of Stinker Point's beaches from the South Plateau

View from the North Plateau and a small breeding group of Southern Giant Petrels

A Southern Giant Petrel colony at Stinker Point. Across the water are Gibbs and Clarence Islands, photograph by Uwe Horst Schulz 

Throughout the austral summer Stinker Point’s plateaus and beaches remain ice-free, allowing many seabirds and marine mammals to utilize the area for breeding.  The area has been monitored since 1985 by Brazilian researchers from the Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos.

The Southern Giant Petrel or “stinker” Macronectes giganteus is the only ACAP-listed species that breeds at Stinker Point, named after the species.  Two major colonies (North Plateau and South Plateau) and some single nests comprise the population of Southern Giant Petrels over a total area of 5.0 ha.  Both colonies are located on plateaus up to 75 m high from where the birds can easily take off. The breeding ground is irregular with gentle slopes surrounded by a mixed field of mosses, lichens, grasses and scree sediments. Most nests are constructed from pebbles and moss.

Southern Giant Petrels breeding at Stinker Point

Ground censuses made in the austral summers from 2009/10 to 2012/13 indicate an average population of 903 breeding pairs. The last count (November 2012) was of 930 breeding pairs. Even though the numbers from 2009 and 2012 are similar, the population showed inter-annual variation among the sampled years.

A comparison with earlier censuses made during the mid-1980s and early 1990s shows that the population has increased since then (in 1971 the population was assessed as 295 pairs).

BirdLife International has designated Stinker Point as an Important Bird Area (ANT033), notably for its Chinstrap Penguin Pygoscelis antarctica population.

Photographs by Maria Virginia Petry & Uwe Horst Schulz.

With thanks to Patricia Pereira Serafini.

Selected Literature:

Colabuono, F.I., Vander Pol, S.S., Huncik, K.M., Satie, T., Petry, M.V., Kucklick, J.R. & Montone, R.C. 2016. Persistent organic pollutants in blood samples of Southern Giant Petrels (Macronectes giganteus) from the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. Environmental Pollution 216: 38-45.

Harris, C.M., Lorenz, K., Fishpool, L.D.C., Lascelles, B., Cooper, J., Coria, N.R., Croxall, J.P., Emmerson, L.M., Fijn, R., Fraser, W.L., Jouventin, P., LaRue, M.A., Le Maho, Y., Lynch, H.J., Naveen, R., Patterson-Fraser, D.L., Peter, H.-U., Poncet, S., Phillips, R.A., Southwell, C.J., van Franeker, J.A., Weimerskirch, H., Wienecke, B. & Woehler, E.J. 2015. Important Bird Areas in Antarctica 2015.  Cambridge: BirdLife International and Environmental Research & Assessment Ltd.  302 pp.

Patterson, D.L., Woehler, E.J., Croxall, J.P., Cooper, J., Poncet, S., Peter, H.-U., Hunter, S. & Fraser, M.W. 2008. Breeding distribution and population status of the Northern Giant Petrel Macronectes halli and Southern Giant Petrel M. giganteus.  Marine Ornithology 36: 115-124 & appendix.

Petry, M.V. 1994. Aves reprodutoras em Stinker Point, Arquipélago das South Shetlands. MSc Thesis, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre.  275 pp.

Schulz, U.H., Krüger, L. & Petry, M.V. 2014. Southern Giant Petrel nest attendance patterns under extreme weather conditions. Zoological Science 31: 501-506.

Maria Virginia Petry & Júlia Victória Grohmann Finger, Laboratório de Ornitologia e Animais Marinhos, Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos, São Leopoldo, Brazil, 07 June 2017

A report released last month by New Zealand’s Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment considers that one in five of the country’s 168 native bird species are at risk of extinction.  New Zealand supports 47 species of breeding procellariform seabirds, of which 15 are listed within the Albatross and Petrel Agreement.  Ten of these 15 species are considered globally threatened, four Near Threatened and only one, the Northern Giant Petrel Macronectes halli, is categorized as of Least Concern.

A section entitled “Humans as ‘unintentional predators’ of seabirds” features the albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters threatened by long-line and trawl fisheries, considering that the ACAP-listed and Vulnerable Black Petrel Procellaria parkinsoni, a New Zealand endemic species, is the most at risk.  It also notes the endemic Antipodean Albatross Diomedea antipodensis is also reported as undergoing a “particularly rapid decline” due to high seas longlining.  New Zealand’s Plan of Action – Seabirds which addresses this issue is to be updated next year.

“Since 2004, there has been progress in some areas. For instance, deepwater trawlers are using devices such as bird-scaring lines and bafflers to keep birds at a distance. As a result, the number of albatrosses killed by flying into steel cables in the squid trawl fishery has halved. Almost all skippers on commercial bottom longline fishing boats in the Hauraki Gulf have completed training on how to avoid catching seabirds, and are now involved in a camera trial to see how effective their efforts are.”

A Northern Royal Albatross Diomedea sanfordi family, at Tairaroa Head,

New Zealand's most threatened ACAP-listed species and the only one with a global status of Endangered

Photograph by Junichi Sugushita

Read a news report on the publication here.

Reference:

Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment 2017.  Taonga of an Island Nation: Saving New Zealand's Birds.  [Wellington]: Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment.  139 pp.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 06 June 2017

Carine Precheur (CEBC, Université de La Rochelle, Villiers en Bois, France) and colleagues have published in the open-access journal Ecosphere on the relationships between signals of climate change and demography of the Audubon's Shearwater Puffinus lherminieri

The paper’s abstract follows:

“An understanding of how environmental changes affect life history traits and population dynamics is essential for predicting the effects of climate change, managing ecosystems, and determining how species and habitats can best be preserved. This applies particularly to seabirds, which, as top marine predators, are often considered as indicators of marine ecosystem changes. Most studies have so far been conducted in polar or temperate regions. However, important changes in the functioning of tropical marine ecosystems have been reported, but the responses of top predators remain poorly known. This study focused on a tropical seabird, Audubon's shearwater Puffinus lherminieri, analyzing the relationships between climate change and the survival of adults, nesting success, and population dynamics. The population studied breeds in Martinique, in the south of the Caribbean region, which is strongly influenced by the Amazon and Orinoco rivers. A data set for the period 1995 to 2014 was used to estimate the survival by age classes and breeding success and to determine which climate variables most affected demographic parameters. The population dynamics were modeled to predict the future population growth rates in response to climate change. The annual adult survival rate increased over the last 20 years, currently standing at 94% for adult birds more than 6 years old. Adult survival increased with sea surface temperature (SST) during the nonbreeding season as well as with Amazon River discharge, although the latter with a lag of 1 year. The effect of SST was explained by the positive relationship between SST and chlorophyll a during years of high discharge from the Amazon and Orinoco. The population decreased between 1995 and 2007 at a rate of 3% per year and then increased between 2008 and 2014 at a rate of 7% per year. The increase in adult survival observed should continue as temperatures increase in the future, and the population models predicted a stable or increasing population over the next 50 years (λ = 1.018). These results contrast with the negative effect of increasing SST on seabird populations found in temperate and polar regions, emphasizing the need to study the impact of climate change on tropical seabirds.”

Audubon's Shearwater, photograph by Carine Precheur

Click here for a recent ACAP Latest News item on Audubon’s Shearwater.

With thanks to Carine Precheur.

Reference:

Precheur, C., Barbraud, C., Martail, F., Mian, M., Nicolas, J.-C., Brithmer, R., Belfan, D., Conde, B. & Bretagnolle, V. 2016.  Some like it hot: effect of environment on population dynamics of a small tropical seabird in the Caribbean region.  Ecosphere 7.  DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.1461.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 05 June 2017

Last month ACAP attended the the 8th Meeting of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission's (IATTC) Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC8, 8-12 May 2017), preceded by the 7th Meeting of the IATTC Working Group on Bycatch (BWG7, 5-6 May 2017) in La Jolla, California, USA.  The Agreement was represented by its Executive Secretary, Dr Marco Favero.

Yellowfin Tuna Thunnus albacares

ACAP contributed the following four papers which it introduced to the Bycatch Working Group:

• SAC-08 INF D(a)  Summary of tools and guidelines available to assist observers in the identification of seabird species and the handling of bycaught individuals (in collaboration with BirdLife International)
• SAC-08 INF D(b)  The development of ACAP seabird bycatch indicators, data needs, methodological approaches and reporting requirements
• SAC-08 INF D(c)  The conservation status and priorities for albatrosses and large petrels
• SAC-08 INF D(d)  Current ACAP advice for reducing the impact of pelagic longline fishing operations on seabirds

The information contained in the papers led to a number of seabird recommendations drafted by the BWG that were then presented to the SAC. All these recommendations on seabird issues were adopted by Scientific Advisory Committee, including:

1. That the existing guidelines and other tools relating to the removal of fishing hooks from incidentally caught seabirds be made available to CPCs (Contracting Parties and Cooperating Non-Contracting Parties) through the IATTC web site;
2. A request for the improvement in seabird data in annual reports by CPCs pursuant to Paragraph 7 of Resolution C-11-02 to Mitigate the Impact on Seabirds of Fishing for Species covered by the IATTC; for example the identification to seabird species, and the provision of spatial and temporal stratified bycatch data, amongst others;
3. That the Commission analyze the extent of implementation by CPCs of the measures contained in Resolution C-11-02 with a view to updating the measure, if necessary; and
4. That the Commission consider revising the suite of mitigation measures in Resolution C-11-02.

Also relevant to the ACAP agenda were recommendations on electronic monitoring encouraging the development of pilot projects in longline vessels, and the inclusion in national reports of any relevant information on the use of electronic monitoring systems at the national level.

Further collaboration between ACAP and IATTC will include engagement with fishing nations to improve data collection, reporting and analysis, and the possible update of the current seabird conservation measure. The collaboration will include ACAP’s attendance at the upcoming 92nd Meeting of the IATTC, to be held in Mexico City, México  from 24 to 28 July 2017, which will offer the opportunity to the Secretariats to sign the renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding between both organisations.

Marco Favero, ACAP Executive Secretary, 02 June 2017