Bird's-eye view - A miniature video camera mounted on the back of a Wandering Albatross gives new insight into their flight

Stefan Schoombie (Centre for Statistics in Ecology, Environment and Conservation, University of Cape Town, South Africa) and colleagues have published open access in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series on dynamic soaring by globally Vulnerable Wandering Albatrosses Diomedea exulans utilizing an array of sophisticated bio-logging devices.

Look out below! Wandering Albatrosses are incredible flyers, but their landings are less graceful, often resulting in comical scenes for onlookers from below

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Wandering albatrosses Diomedea exulans are among the largest flying birds. Their energy-efficient dynamic soaring flight allows them to travel large distances by exploiting the gradient in wind strength above the sea surface. We used bio-logging devices to study the dynamic soaring flight behaviour of wandering albatrosses, deriving roll (bank) angles from video and tri-axial magnetometers, and flapping events from tri-axial accelerometers. Albatrosses mostly experienced westerly winds coming from their left during outbound flights from their colonies and from their right when returning. They compensated for differences in wind speed by varying their roll angles and predominantly turning into the wind, resulting in a net displacement that was perpendicular to the wind. Flapping flight was influenced by wind speed and direction, with birds spending more time flapping in light winds and in head winds. Flapping often occurred at the upper turn of the dynamic soaring cycle, a stage previously considered devoid of flapping. There was also evidence of sexual differences in flight behaviour, with females flapping less than males. Males almost exclusively take off into head winds, whereas females utilized cross winds as well. These results add to our knowledge of dynamic soaring and show how albatrosses react to their wind fields at a fine scale.”

Comfort in the air. Wandering Albatrosses uses their large wingspan to glide through the air using a flight mode called dynamic soaring, where they expend very little energy and can travel immense distances in favourable wind. However, when the wind is light they have to flap their wings from time to time, which uses a lot more energy

With thanks to Stefan Schoombie for his photographs and for writing the captions.

Reference:

Schoombie, S., Wilson, R.P. & Ryan, P.G. 2023.  Wind driven effects on the fine-scale flight behaviour of dynamic soaring wandering albatrosses. Marine Ecology Progress Series doi.org/10.3354/meps14265.

Note:  Now retired as ACAP Information Officer to an emeritus position, I am largely restricting my contributions to the Agreement to the ACAP Monthly Missives series, completion of the ACAP Species Infographic series, and for this year, leading in the build up to the fourth World Albatross Day on 19 June. However, from time to time I will “help out” with a post to ACAP Latest News as here, where it is a pleasure to report on a publication coming from Marion Island where I conducted and managed research on ACAP-listed species for several decades.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 25 April 2023

Flesh-footed Shearwaters; photograph by Ian Hutton

J. L. Lavers (Bird Group, The Natural History Museum, Tring, UK) and A.L. Bond have published open access in the journal Marine Biology a study on the ingestion of pumice in Flesh-footed and Wedge-tailed Shearwaters between 2011 – 2022 and connections with the ingestion of plastics and chick development. 

The paper’s abstract follows, 

“Many species of seabird ingest or are provisioned with pumice stones, buoyant volcanic rocks that are thought to aide in digestion, occasionally during times of poor prey availability. Unlike other indigestible matter, like plastics, the effect of pumice on chick growth, its relationship with ingested plastics, and variation among years has not yet been examined. We analysed the amount of ingested pumice from 739 Flesh-footed (Ardenna carneipes) and 173 Wedge-tailed Shearwaters (A. pacifica) from Lord Howe Island, Australia sampled using stomach lavage between 2011 and 2022. The total mass of ingested pumice was positively related to the mass of ingested plastics in Flesh-footed, but not Wedge-tailed Shearwaters, but not when using mean stone mass. Pumice mass did not vary over time, except for one higher year for each species (2016 for Flesh-footed Shearwaters and 2014 for Wedge-tailed Shearwaters), and there was no effect of pumice mass on chick body size at fledgling. Our results are consistent with the coexistence over geological time of seabirds and floating pumice, and future work should focus on aspects of retention in the digestive system and potential interactions with and efficacy in the presence of novel materials, like plastics.”

Reference

Lavers, J.L., Bond, A.L. 2023. Pumice ingestion in seabirds: interannual variation, and relationships with chick growth and plastic ingestion. Marine Biology 170, 55 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-023-04203-6

24 April 2023

Bird Scaring Lines (BSL) are one of a number of mitigation measures available to fishers to reduce risks to seabirds from fishing operations; photograph by Ed Melvin

Fisheries New Zealand is seeking feedback on proposed changes to the mandatory seabird mitigation measures for commercial fishers using surface longlining (SLL) in New Zealand waters. Details of the proposed changes to the mitigation measures are contained in the consultation document, Review of the Fisheries (Seabird Mitigation Measures – Surface Longlines) Circular 2019.

The proposals come after a review of the current regulations contained in the Fisheries (Seabird Mitigation Measures – Surface Longlines) Circular 2019 in which Fisheries New Zealand found low uptake of voluntary mitigation measures and little compliance to discharge management practices.  

New Zealand is considered a seabird hotspot, with several species of albatrosses and petrels endemic to the country. Twelve seabirds, all ACAP-listed species, were identified in the review as most at risk from SLL fisheries including Antipodean, Gibson’s and Salvin’s albatrosses. 

By law, commercial fishers in New Zealand waters using the surface longlining method must implement certain mitigation measures to reduce risks to seabirds. The current regulations stipulate that during setting, fishers must either:

• use hook-shielding devices on all hooks, or
• deploy a legal tori (streamer) line (or Bird Scaring Line), and either set at night, or line weight to legal specifications.

In addition to the mandatory regulations there are a number of voluntary measures which SLL operations can adopt including the use of bird scaring lines (also known as a tori line), line weighting, and night setting. Employing all of these measures simultaneously, known as "three out of three" or using hook-shielding devices, aligns with ACAP’s Best Practice Advice for seabird mitigation in SLL fisheries.

The consultation by Fisheries New Zealand is seeking feedback on potential changes to the circular which will better align it with the voluntary measures set out in the mitigation standards.

The options proposed in the consultation are as follows:

• Option 1: Regulatory status quo.
• Option 2: Mandate additional "best practice" seabird mitigation measures.
• Option 3: Spatial/temporal use of "three out of three" (or hook-shielding devices).
• Option 4: Mandate "three out of three" (or hook-shielding devices) at all times.

Submissions can be made to Fisheries New Zealand on the proposed changes detailed in the Consultation Document via email at, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or alternatively, the postal address is:

Surface Longline Circular Review 2023 Fisheries Management
Fisheries New Zealand
Private Bag 12031
Tauranga 3143

The deadline for submissions is 5pm 28 April 2023. All infornation, including the review and consulation documents are available here.

21 April 2023

The ACAP Species Infographic series is designed to help inform the general public, including school learners, of the threats faced by albatrosses and what is being and can be done to combat them. They serve to complement the more detailed and referenced ACAP Species Assessments, the concise and illustrated ACAP Species Summaries and the ACAP Photo Essay series.

To date, 10 species infographics have been produced. Sponsored by the Australian Antarctic Program, the most recent, for the Black-browed Albatross Thalassarche melanophris, was released last month in its English version.  All the infographics are being produced in ACAP’s three languages, and today ACAP is releasing the French and Spanish versions for the Black-browed Albatross. In addition, a Portuguese version takes note that the species visits the waters of Brazil (a Party to the Agreement). Previously, a Portuguese version was produced for the Critically Endangered Tristan Albatross Diomedea dabbeneena. Other ACAP-listed species that regularly visit Brazilian waters will also have infographics produced in Portuguese.

The 10 infographics produced to date may be freely downloaded at a high resolution to allow for printing professionally in two poster sizes (approximately A2 and A3). English and Portuguese language versions of infographics are available to download here, whilst French and Spanish versions can be found in their respective language menus for the website under, Infographies sur les espèces and Infographía sobres las especies.

Please note they are only being made available for personal use or when engaging in activities that will aid in drawing attention to the conservation crisis faced by the world’s albatrosses and petrels – when ACAP will be pleased to receive a mention.

The infographics are created by Thai illustrator Namasri ‘Namo’ Niumim from Bangkok. Namo, is a graduate of the School of Architecture and Design, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communication Design.

With thanks to ‘Pep’ Arcos, Karine Delord and Patricia Serafini for their providing or for their careful checking of texts in their home languages.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 20 April 2023