Northern Royal Albatross, OL (Orange/Lime), comes in to land at Taiaroa Head, heralding the new season for the world's only mainland breeding colony; a still photograph taken from RoyalCam

The tradition of ringing in the return of Northern Royal Albatrosses Diomedea sanfordi to Dunedin continued this year with the city’s bells chiming yesterday at 1 pm in celebration. 12-year old female, OL (Orange/Lime) was seen on the headland by Department of Conservation rangers on Tuesday, and spotted flying in from the live stream known as Royalcam.

Otago Peninsula Trust Ecotourism Manager Hoani Langsbury, said there could never be a more appropriate time for the return of a Royal to Pukekura, than the day after Queen Elizabeth’s Tangi. Between 35 - 50 breeding pairs were expected to return this year, Mr Lansbury said in his welcome address to The Royal Albatross' bell-ringing event. He attributed the number to the healthy marine environment surrounding the peninsula, saying, "the peninsula sticks out about 30 kilometres out in the ocean, so we are a little like an offshore island so it’s a good indicator to us how healthy the place is".

Nadia Wesley-Smith, Chair of Te Poari a Pukekura Co-Management Trust Board joined the Royal Albatross Centre in celebrating the return of the first toroa for the season saying the annual return reminded the board of their ongoing responsibilities around the entire living system of the headland that contributes to the health and conservation of the Northern Royal Albatross.

Dunedin’s Northern Royal albatrosses at Taiaroa Head on the Otago Peninsula are the only mainland breeding colony in the world. Birds arrive in September to nest just as the previous year’s chicks, now juveniles, are fledging. Currently 16 out of 25 chicks are yet to fledge. Department of Conservation Ranger Sharyn Broni said OL was spotted spending time with a potential mate last summer and advised only time will tell if OL breeds during the 22/23 season.

OPT Ecotourism Manager Hoani Langsbury gives the welcome address and rings in the 2023 season at The Royal Albatross Centre where RoyalCam is located

Northern Royal Albatrosses are globally Endangered and have been selected as one of ACAP’s featured species for next year’s World Albatross Day, marked on 19 June. ACAP has chosen, “Plastic Pollution” as next year's theme, highlighting the ever increasing presence of plastic in our environment. Albatrosses are affected by a range of pollutants, of which plastics, whether ingested and then fed to chicks or causing entanglements, are certainly the most visible and well known to the general public.  However, albatrosses face other significant pollutants, including heavy metals, (such as mercury) and POPs (persistent organic pollutants, such as insecticides).  ACAP will therefore include these and other categories of pollutants along with plastics in promoting “WAD2023”.

Royalcam is a collaboration between the Department of Conservation and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to raise awareness world-wide of the lives and challenges of the royal albatrosses.

23 September 2022

A Wandering Albatross chick on Bird Island during the austral winter; photograph by Erin Taylor

For many decades, researchers from the UK’s British Antarctic Survey (BAS) have studied the seabirds of Bird Island, South Georgia (Islas Georgias del Sur)* in the South Atlantic.  Perhaps foremost, and certainly the longest uninterrupted study, has been the annual monitoring of changes in the breeding population of the globally Vulnerable Wandering Albatross Diomedea exulans.  All breeding adults and chicks on the island are banded, so as well as population size, annual monitoring of survival, breeding frequency, breeding success, age at first return and age at recruitment are able to be recorded.

Richard Phillips, Higher Predators and Conservation Group, British Antarctic Survey, has written to ACAP Latest News on the current season’s work with the island’s Wanderers: “An estimated 656 pairs of Wandering Albatrosses nested on Bird Island this year.  Although this is the lowest ever recorded, the population has been largely stable since 2017.  This follows decades of population declines, such that in recent years just over a third as many birds bred as in the early 1960s.”  He further reports that 527 chicks were alive on 1 April, giving a hatching success of 80.3%.

A 2021/22 Wandering Albatross chick in the study area receives its colour band “red H56”; photograph by Erin Taylor

News also comes on the current breeding season from BAS Zoological Field Assistant on the island, Erin Taylor, via the Albatross Task Force Facebook page.  She writes: “The chick census results are in for July.  The team on Bird Island counted 504 Wandering Albatross chicks, which sadly means that we have lost three chicks in the past month.  Hurricane level winds have been hitting the island and are likely to have been the cause of death.  Extreme weather like this is a consequence of climate change and is expected to increase in frequency, so it is important that we maintain an understanding of the population on Bird Island.”

At the most recent census, all 504 chicks were metal banded, with the 73 in the intensive study area also receiving a red alphanumeric colour band.

A Wandering Albatross sits tight on its nest in summer on Bird Island; photograph by Richard Phillips

The Wandering Albatrosses breeding on South Georgia (Islas Georgias del Sur)* have been identified as forming an ACAP Priority Population for conservation because of their global importance and steep rate of decline.

With thanks to Richard Phillips and Erin Taylor.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 22 September 2022

*A dispute exists between the Governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (Islas Georgias del Sur y Islas Sandwich del Sur) and the surrounding maritime areas.

A cover image from RSN Magazine, produced by the Regional Fishery Body Secretariats' Network (RSN); photograph by Pexels/Quang Nguyen Vinh

The Regional Fishery Body Secretariats' Network (RSN) Statement to the recent 35th Session of the Committee of Fisheries (COFI 35) has been posted to the COFI 35 website. The Statement, “Developments in global and regional processes related to fisheries and aquaculture” was submitted by RSN Chair, Mr. Guillermo Compeán.

In his Statement, Mr. Compeán presented examples of achievements of the RSN, including the growth and development of the RSN Magazine, the fostering of technical publications related to RFBs, and the co-production with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) of 54 Regional Fishery Bodies (RFB) factsheets. He further noted the “essential role played by RFB’s in the conservation and sustainable management of all living aquatic resources”, highlighting the unique position of the RSN Network in its provision of “an international forum with which to convey global policies to the regional and individual country level”, and signified the RSN as an “important tool to reach the goals and commitments identified and adopted by COFI”.

Mr Compeán also provided a brief insight into the 9th Meeting of the RSN which took place prior to COFI 35, advising that important items of discussion included “the impact of climate change on fisheries and aquaculture sustainability, area-based management tools including OECM [other effective area-based conservation measures], safety at sea and decent working conditions, the relevance of the RFB performance review practices, and a revised Terms of Reference and Rules of Procedure for the RSN.” The report of the meeting will be available at a future date on the FAO website.

ACAP was pleased to acknowledge in its own Opening Statement to COFI 35 of its inclusion in the Regional Secretariats' Network (RSN) which meets before and after COFI. This inclusion in the RSN provides welcome opportunities to share with a broad range of colleagues the latest updates to ACAP’s best practice advice for reducing the impact of fisheries on seabirds.

The Chair's Statement is available at the COFI 35 website, here.

Posted 21 September 2022

Shearwater species that breed on inhabited islands or mainland sites are affected by light pollution, notably fledglings leaving their breeding sites and heading out to sea at night for the first time.  These naïve birds can become dazzled, lose their way, collide with structures and become grounded – where they are at risk to vehicle traffic and mammalian predators, such as cats.  Two ACAP-listed shearwaters, the Critically Endangered Balearic Puffinus mauretanicus and the Vulnerable Pink-footed Shearwater Ardenna creatopus, are no exception, as previously reported in ACAP Latest News (click here and here).  At least a further nine shearwater species, all not listed by ACAP, are notably affected by land-based light pollution during breeding.  These are Cory's Calonectris borealis, Hutton's P. huttoni, Manx P. puffinus, Newell's P. newelli, Scopoli’s C. Diomedea, Short-tailed A. tenuirostris, Streaked C. leucomelas, Wedge-tailed A. pacifica and Yelkouan P. yelkouan (click here and reference below).

Gabriela Lamanna has written an article on the website of the environmental NGO Oikonos Ecosystem Knowledge that describes light pollution affecting the Chilean endemic Pink-footed Shearwater on Robinson Crusoe Island.  Her edited text follows.

Sky without light pollution, photograph by Héctor Gutiérrez Guzmán

“Pink-footed Shearwater chicks are raised in dark burrows, and when the time comes to undertake their first flight to the ocean, instead of finding a sky like the one in the photo above, they find artificial lights that disorient them. When they fall to the ground, they become prey to dogs and cats.  Robinson Crusoe Island is one of the three islands that form the Juan Fernández Archipelago.  Located 700 miles [1125 km] off central Chile, about 900 people live in the only year-round town of San Juan Bautista.

Fallen Wilson’s Storm Petrel disoriented due to the artificial lights; photograph by Red de Observadores

In 2020, due to the installation of bright streetlights on the waterfront at Robinson Crusoe, where seabirds and humans co-exist, a high number of shearwater chicks [was] found grounded and vulnerable during night surveys.  The Pink-footed Shearwater is not only an endangered species, but also has a national action plan (RECOGE) developed by the Ministry of the Environment of Chile.  To reduce this problem, multiple actions were taken that helped the following nesting season (2021-22).

Streetlights with filters on the coast of Robinson Crusoe Island; photograph by Rolando Recabarren

We collaborated with the Municipality of Juan Fernández, the Office of Sky Quality Protection of Northern Chile, and Aladdin Lighting in the installation of 23 streetlight filters along the coast, with the goal of minimizing the number of seabirds disoriented on the ground. These filters reduce the blue light spectrum that affects biodiversity and people.  The [above graph] shows that the number of grounded seabirds increased significantly when the bright coastal lights were newly installed in 2020 and reduced when actions to reduce light pollution started in 2021 and filters were added in 2022.

Night tour with members of the Robinson Crusoe community; photograph by Florencia Olivares

We joined ROC [Red de Observadores de Aves y Vida Silvestre de Chile] and the Office for the Protection of Sky Quality in Northern Chile to develop the "Guide for Friendly Lighting with Seabirds in Chile”, which provides guidance for outdoor lighting projects that may affect seabirds.  In addition, it provides practical recommendations for designing suitable lighting projects and examples of real case studies, hoping that project developers, evaluators and territorial planners will use it to mitigate light pollution in the development of their projects.  We also carry out activities such as night tours with the Robinson Crusoe community [photograph above] where they can learn about light pollution and what to do if they find fallen chicks on the ground.”

ACAP has announced that its theme for next year’s World Albatross Day on 19 June will be “Plastic Pollution”.  However, other types of pollution affecting procellariform seabirds will also be featured, such as from street lighting reported here.  Additionally, this year’s World Migratory Bird Day, held on 14 May and again on 08 October has as its theme light pollution under the slogan “Dim the Lights for Birds at Night!”.

The Australian Department of the Environment and Energy in collaboration with the Western Australian Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions has developed National Light Pollution Guidelines for Wildlife including Marine Turtles, Seabirds and Migratory Shorebirds.  The guidelines aim to raise awareness of the potential impacts of artificial light on wildlife and provide a framework for assessing and managing them.  See also Guidelines for Ecologically Responsible Lighting produced in Malta.

Reference:

Rodríguez, A., Holmes, N.D., Ryan, P.G., Wilson, K.-J., Faulquier, L., Murillo, Y., Raine, A.F., Penniman, J., Neves, V., Rodríguez, B., Negro, J.N., Chiaradia, A., Dann, P., Anderson, T., Metzger, B., Shirai, M., Deppe, L., Wheeler, J., Hodum, P., Gouveia, C., Carmo, V., Carreira, G.P., Delgado-Alburqueque, L., Guerra-Correa, C., Couzi, F.-X., Travers, M. & Le Corre, M. 2017.  A global review of seabird mortality caused by land-based artificial lights.  Conservation Biology DOI: 10.1111/cobi.12900.

John Cooper, ACAP News Correspondent, 20 September 2022