Paolo Becciu (Ornis Italica, Rome, Italy,) and colleagues have produced a poster that reports on a study of the effects of an all-night disco on nest attendance in Scopoli’s Shearwater Calonectris diomedea.

The poster’s abstract follows:

In the summer 2014, four outdoor disco events were organised during the chick rearing period in close proximity of the Scopoli’s shearwater colony of Linosa island, the largest colony of this species in Italy (Massa & Lo Valvo 1986).  We took this opportunity to investigate the effects of high intensity artificial light and sound on the behaviour of parent birds and the effects on chick growth and survival.  Since propagation of light and sound over the colony was differentially affected by the topography of the area, we were able to separate the specific effects on nest attendance of these two disturbance factors.  Shearwaters return to the colony when it is completely dark, often avoiding moonlight.  This behaviour probably evolved to minimize predation risk by gulls and other diurnal predators.  The deleterious effects of artificial light sources on shearwaters are mostly related to mortality caused by attraction of fledglings to the light (Rodrìguez & Rodrìguez 2009).  In fact there are no studies on potential effects of artificial light and sound disturbance on parental nest provisioning and their consequences on chick growth.  Some touristic recreational activities have been shown to cause elevated stress responses, increased heart rate, and nest desertion in other seabird species.”

Fledgling Scopoli's Shearwater

Reference:

Becciu, P., Benedetti, M.C., Massa, B. & Dell'omo, G. 2015. Conflicts between touristic recreational activities and breeding shearwaters: light but not sound disturbance affects nest attendance.  XXVI Conference of Italian Society of Ethology, Parma, Italy.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 21 December 2015

UPDATED:  The conference website is now live.

The 13th International Seabird Group Conference will be held in in Edinburgh over 6-9 September 2016.  The venue will be the John McIntyre Conference Centre, close to the Scottish Parliament and the Royal Mile and set in the shadow of Arthur's Seat at Holyrood Park.  The conference will commence with a plenary lecture and reception on the evening of 6 September.  Three days of talks on all the latest topics in seabird ecology will follow, including further plenary talks from top researchers in the field.  Registration will open the week commencing 4 January 2016 with “early bird” and abstract deadlines in 15 April 2016.  Further details are to be circulated via the web sites and social media.

“The Seabird Group was founded in 1966 to promote and help coordinate the study and conservation of seabirds.  The Group organises regular international conferences and provides small grants towards research and survey projects.  The Group actively encourages its members to get involved in surveys of seabirds and other research work.”

Black-browed Albatross in the North Atlantic, photograph by John Larsen

Click here to access information on previous International Seabird Group Conferences, including their abstracts.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 20 December 2015, updated 21 December 2015

The 12th Regular Session of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC12) met from 3-8 December 2015 in Kuta, Bali, Indonesia.

The Session agreed to a proposal submitted by Japan (“Proposed amendments to CMM 2012-07 Seabirds - Explanatory note and application of CMM 2013-06” - WCPFC12-2015-DP02b) to strengthen its Seabird Conservation Measure (“Conservation and Management Measure to Mitigate the Impact of Fishing for Highly Migratory Fish Stocks on Seabirds” - CMM 2012-07) to require longline fishing vessels that are less than 24 m in length fishing north of 23°N to use at least one seabird mitigation measure from Column A of Table 1 of CMM 2012-07.  Column A of Table 1 includes mitigation measures that are considered by ACAP to have proven efficacy in reducing seabird bycatch.

The amendment to CMM 2012-07 also included a specification for short streamers for use on vessels less than 24 m.  As further research is required on the design and specifications of bird-scaring lines for these smaller vessels, it was agreed that the current specification would be reviewed no later than three years from implementation of the amended CMM, on 1 January 2017.  The review would be undertaken on the basis of scientific data submitted.

Short-tailed Albatross at sea in the North Pacific, photograph by Aleks Terauds

The meeting also considered a further proposal to amend CMM 2012-07 (“Proposal to Revise Conservation and Management Measure on Seabirds (CMM 2012-07)” - WCPFC12-2015-DP11), submitted by members of the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), to extend the area of application of CMM 2012-07 to south of 25°S, rather than the existing requirement for it to apply southwards from 30°S.  Consensus could not be achieved on this proposal and it was not agreed to.

The Agreement was represented at WCPFC12 by its Executive Secretary, Warren Papworth.

Warren Papworth, ACAP Executive Secretary, 19 December 2015

Candling of Near Threatened Laysan Albatross Phoebastria immutabilis eggs by Pacific Rim Conservation has commenced to determine which will be selected for translocation next year from the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) at Barking Sands, Kauai to the James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge on Oahu in the USA’s Hawaiian Islands.  Twenty of 24 eggs candled so far were deemed to be fertile (click here).  This is the second of three planned seasons to establish a new breeding colony.  Ten hand-fed chicks hatched from artificially-incubated eggs successfully fledged earlier this year (click here and follow the string backwards).

A candled Laysan Albatross egg shows a developing embryo

Photograph by Pacific Rim Conservation

“PMRF’s runway area has swift wind conditions and wide, open topography that make for perfect albatross breeding terrain.  The problem is that the birds pose a collision hazard in the runway zone, putting themselves, the aircraft and flight crews at risk.”  Because of this about 70 eggs are removed annually.  Some of the fertile eggs have been given to incubating birds elsewhere on Kauai that have infertile eggs, some laid by female-female pairs.  Along with removing eggs from the runway area about 200 birds are moved each year to elsewhere on the island.  Read more on the translocation of Laysan Albatrosses and their eggs here.

Meanwhile on Kauai the last of 10 translocated Vulnerable Hawaiian Petrel Pterodroma sandvicensis chicks have fledged from the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge.  Read more on this exercise here.

A translocated Hawaiian Petrel chick approaches fledging, photograph by Andre Raine

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 18 December 2015