Wisdom, the World’s oldest-known Laysan Albatross Phoebastria immutabilis, now considered to be at least 64 years old and first banded as an adult in 1956, was sighted preening her mate (band number G000) on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge on 22 November.  Her colour band Red Z333 was viewed by Deputy Refuge Manager Bret Wolfe - who used a telephoto lens at a distance to avoid overly disturbing the pair.  Wisdom's mate had been waiting close to the pair's former nest site since 19 November.  It is typical for male Laysan Albatrosses to arrive first at the nest site.  By the 23rd Wisdom had left for sea (click here).

Wisdom on the left preens her mate, photograph by Bret Wolfe/USFWS

“The breeding [Laysan] albatrosses, both male and female, typically return to sea shortly after mating.  After about 5-10 days, the female will return and lay a single egg in a bowl-like nest made from sand and grass.  The males will return shortly thereafter, though some may remain to guard the nest site while the female is away.  Although it's not set in stone that they will successfully breed and raise a chick in any given year, this pair has successfully bred in each of the last seven years.”

To read more ACAP news items about the exploits of Wisdom, and of the children’s book, mascot, poem, Facebook page and artwork she has inspired click here.

Laysan Albatrosses have already started laying on the main Hawaiian Islands, with the first eggs spotted on the 21st.

Meanwhile on Midway’s Eastern Island the male Short-tailed Albatross P. albatrus arrived at the end of October and is waiting for its partner.  The pair has bred successfuly three times in the last four years (click here).

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 29 November 2014

Jenn Lavers (Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia) and colleagues published in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series last year on using feather analyses of from Flesh-footed Shearwaters Puffinus carneipes killed at sea to trace their breeding sites.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“An emerging issue in seabird conservation is the ability to link at-sea mortality with observed demographic changes at breeding colonies.  Applications of modelling and biochemical markers can be used to assign mortalities of unknown provenance to a colony of origin ensuring conservation actions are targeted at those colonies identified as the most affected.  We analysed feathers (n = 120) from flesh-footed shearwater Puffinus carneipes collected from 5 breeding colonies throughout their range.  Using stable isotopes (δ15N and δ13C) and trace element concentrations (Mn, Ni, Cu, Mo, Ag, Ba, Pb), we assigned birds recovered from fishing vessels off Australia, New Zealand, and the North Pacific to colony of origin, and investigated the rate of correct assignment at 3 spatial scales.  Using quadratic discriminant analysis, samples of known origin were correctly assigned to basin, region, and breeding colonies at similar rates (92.3, 81.3, and 88.1%, respectively).  Stable isotopes succeeded in assigning individuals among basins (72.8%), performing less well at the region and colony level (52.5 and 36.4%, respectively).  In contrast, correct assignment was consistent at all 3 scales using only trace elements (93.2, 95.7, and 96.6%, respectively).  Applying our final model based on trace elements to 116 flesh-footed shearwaters taken as bycatch in eastern Australia (n = 30), Western Australia (n = 32), New Zealand (n = 16), eastern North Pacific (n = 27) and western North Pacific (n = 11), we assigned individuals to colonies in New Zealand (35.3%), Western/South Australia (36.2%), Western Australia (27.6%), and Lord Howe Island (0.9%).  Bycatch in fisheries may help explain ongoing declines in flesh-footed shearwater populations across the species’ range, highlighting the utility of assignment tools to account for unobservable mortality of wildlife at-sea.”

Flesh-footed Shearwater at sea, photograph by Tim Reid

Reference:

Lavers, J.L., Bond, A.L., Van Wilgenburg, S.L. & Hobson, K.A. 2013.  Linking at-sea mortality of a pelagic shearwater to breeding colonies of origin using geochemical markers.  Marine Ecology Progress Series 491: 265-275.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 28 November 2014

Hannah Cousin and colleagues have written on ingestion of plastics by Short-tailed Shearwaters Puffinus tenuirostris, now in press with the journal Emu – Austral Ornithology.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“In recent years, there has been increased reporting of marine plastic debris ingestion in seabirds.  Our aim was to assess the frequency and impacts of ingested plastic debris in pre-fledging chicks of the Short-tailed Shearwater (Puffinus tenuirostris) in Tasmania.  We necropsied 171 chicks confiscated after illegal poaching to determine presence or absence of plastic debris in the proventriculus and ventriculus, and examined whether there was a correlation between body condition (as estimated based upon body mass and fat scores) and quantity of plastic ingested (by count and weight of items).  We found 1032 plastic particles were ingested, comprised of both industrial (31%) and user plastic (69%).  Most of the shearwaters (96%) contained plastic debris with an average of 148.1 mg (± s.e. 8.1 mg) per bird.  Most plastic was found in the ventriculus.  Light coloured plastic pieces dominated (63.76%), followed by medium and dark coloured (22.09% and 14.15%, respectively).  We found that total ingested plastic mass was not significantly related to body condition, fat scores or mass.  Our paper highlights the prevalence of plastic pollution in healthy shearwater chicks and underscores concern regarding the impacts of increasing marine pollution on a global scale.”

Short-tailed Shearwater at sea, photograph by Kirk Zufelt

Reference:

Cousin, H., Auman, H., Alderman, R. & Virtue, P. in press.  The frequency of ingested plastic debris and impacts on body condition in Short-tailed Shearwater (Puffinus tenuirostris) pre-fledging chicks in Tasmania, Australia.  Emu.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 27 November 2014

Johanna Pierre and colleagues (Dragonfly Data Science) have produced a draft report for the Conservation Services Programme of the New Zealand Department of Conservation on cryptic mortality of seabirds in New Zealand longline and trawl fisheries.

Painting of deployed bird-saving lines by Bruce Pearson

The report’s executive summary follows:

“Understanding the nature and extent of interactions between commercial fisheries and marine protected species is one component of best practice fisheries management.  These interactions can lead to mortalities of protected species, which may be detected (e.g., by fisheries observers on vessels), or not readily detectable, and undetected (also known as cryptic mortalities). For seabirds, cryptic mortalities may result, for example, when a bird carcass falls into the water after striking a trawl warp, or when a bird is landed alive on deck, removed from fishing gear and released, but later dies as a result of injuries sustained.  The assessment of the risk that New Zealand commercial fisheries represent to seabird populations, conducted by Richard & Abraham (2013), considers cryptic mortality using a set of multipliers applied across the various fishing methods.  These scalars are derived from sources including data collected in New Zealand and internationally.

Here, we draw on Richard & Abraham’s (2013) approach, updated in 2014, to identify seabird species and fisheries for which cryptic mortality contributes particularly strongly to the overall assessed risk.  We review assumptions and uncertainties inherent in Richard & Abraham’s (2014) methods, as well as relevant new information which may contribute to the development of more robust cryptic mortality scalars applicable to New Zealand fisheries.  Finally, we recommend options to improve the estimation of cryptic mortality for the seabird species groups and fisheries where this is particularly important.

From Richard & Abraham’s (2014) assessment, cryptic mortality was especially influential in determining overall assessed risk for both albatross and petrel species, including black petrel (Procellaria parkinsoni) interacting with small-vessel surface and bottom longline fisheries, and Salvin’s (Thalassarche salvini) and New Zealand white-capped (T. cauta steadi) albatross interacting with small inshore trawl vessels, and southern Buller’s albatross (T. bulleri bulleri) interacting with large trawl vessels with meal plants.  Key assumptions included that cryptic mortality scalars derived from fisheries outside New Zealand were appropriately applied to the New Zealand context despite differences in seabird assemblages, fishing operations and gear.  Further, scalars applied to cryptic mortality of seabirds due to aerial warp strikes and interactions with trawl nets were entirely assumption-based.

Relevant new information that may contribute to refining scalars describing cryptic mortality includes work conducted on cryptic mortality associated with a Falkland Islands demersal trawl fishery, and two new studies reporting the outcomes of seabird strikes on trawl warps.  Additional data sources that could prove valuable for the development of improved scalars include the database collected on seabird interactions with trawl fisheries in the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources Convention Area and from trawl fisheries off the Falkland Islands.  Given the seabirds and fisheries for which cryptic mortality is a particularly important determinant of overall risk, and the additional information that may be available, priority areas for improving estimates of cryptic mortalities in New Zealand fisheries include developing method-specific cryptic mortality scalars for bottom longline fisheries, exploring existing information to refine scalars applicable to inshore fisheries, and refining estimates of mortalities – both observed and cryptic - that result from aerial warp strikes.  Applying scalars for broad groupings of large (i.e., predominantly albatrosses) and small seabirds appears appropriate given current information. The immediate amendment of data collection protocols used by New Zealand fisheries observers is recommended to document cryptic seabird mortalities.  The implementation of new data collection protocols, potentially combined with experimental data collection, are also considered priorities in order to develop an understanding of cryptic mortality, especially in inshore fisheries.”

Reference:

Pierre, J.P., Richard, Y. & Abraham, E.R. 2014.  Assessment of Cryptic Seabird Mortality due to Trawl Warps and Longlines.  Draft Report prepared for the Department of Conservation: Conservation Services Programme Project INT2013-05.  Wellington: Dragonfly Data Science.  46 pp.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 26 November  2014