The Albatross and Petrel Agreement is continuing with its intention of producing ACAP Infographics for all 22 listed species in the three official languages of English, French and Spanish.  To date, infographics have been produced in all three languages for six species of albatrosses.  The release today of French and Spanish infographics for the Grey-headed Thalassarche chrysostoma and Shy T. cauta Albatrosses brings the total now fully covered to eight.  The infographics are freely available from this website to download and print as posters in two sizes (approximately A2 and A3).

It is planned to produce more infographics over the next 12 months or so, including for the first ACAP-listed petrels.  Two of these, for the Black-browed T. melanophris and the Northern Royal Diomedea sanfordi Albatrosses, will be released in time for World Albatross Day next year on 19 June with its theme of “Plastic Pollution”.

The ACAP Species Infographics are produced by Thailand-based illustrator, Namasri ‘Namo’ Niumim, with texts first reviewed by experts for each species.  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.  The infographics serve to complement the detailed and referenced ACAP Species Assessments, the more concise and illustrated ACAP Species Summaries and the ACAP Photo Essay series.

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.

ACAP thanks Jonathon Barrington of the Australian Antarctic Program for arranging funding of the infographics for the Grey-headed and Shy Albatrosses, and “Pep” Arcos and Karine Delord for their careful checking of the Spanish and French texts, respectively.

John Cooper, ACAP News Correspondent, 25 October 2022

An image from the paper: Figure 4. Amalgamation annotation of Manx shearwater feathers. Left: the distribution of barbules along the barb at increasing levels of oil treatment. Oil treatments are (a) control, (b) trace colour sheen – 0.1 µm, (c) dark colour sheen – 3 µm, (d) standard slick – 25 µm, and (e) severe slick – 75 µm, (table 1). Right: amalgamation Index analysis has been marked to display spread/clumping reflected in mean AI calculations, with the following colours representing values determined for clump sizes: Red = 1, Yellow = 2, Pink = 3, Blue = 4, Purple = 5, Green = 6.

Emma Murphy (School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences, University College Cork, Ireland) and colleagues have published open access in Royal Society Open Science on the effects of oil on Manx Shearwaters’ feather structure.

The paper’s abstract follows:

Oil pollution has profound negative impacts on the marine environment, with seabirds particularly vulnerable to oiling, due to the amount of time spent on the sea surface foraging or resting. Exposure to oil can affect feather structure and influence waterproofing, buoyancy and thermoregulation. We investigated the effects of surface crude oil on the feather structure of Manx shearwaters (Puffinus puffinus), a seabird species that spends a high proportion of time on the water surface. Sampled body contour feathers were exposed to varying thicknesses of surface crude oil before assessing their resistance to water permeation, increase in mass and clumping of feather barbules. Surface oil as thin as 0.1 µm was enough to increase feather permeability, while greatest impacts on permeability were caused by exposure to dark colour surface sheens 3 µm in thickness. Increases in feather mass of up to 1000% were noted in heavy oiling scenarios due to contact with thicker oil slicks, which may significantly affect wing loading and energetic expenditure.

REFERENCE

Murphy E., Jessopp M. and Darby J. (2022) Light to intermediate oil sheens increase Manx shearwater feather permeability. Royal Society Open Science. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.220488

24 October 2022

An Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross feeds on a dead Loggerhead Turtle; photo time series by Fabio Schunk

Fabio Schunk (Comitê Brasileiro de Registros Ornitológicos, São Paulo, Brazil) and colleagues have published in the open-access journal Marine Ornithology on a juvenile Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross Thalassarche chlororhynchos observed feeding on a corpse of a Loggerhead Turtle Caretta caretta at sea off the coast of Brazil.

The paper’s abstract follows:

Albatrosses mostly forage for fish, squid, and crustaceans (including discards from fishing vessels), but they also scavenge animal carcasses, a behavior still poorly characterized for some albatross species. In July 2021 during a pelagic birding trip off the coast of São Paulo State, Southeast Brazil, three Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross Thalassarche chlororhynchos were spotted feeding on the floating carcass of a Loggerhead Sea Turtle Caretta.  This behavior had not been previously documented in the literature, on-line citizen science platforms, or by personal observations. We believe this to be an uncommon feeding strategy for this albatross species.”

An Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross close by the dead Loggerhead Turtle; photograph by Fabio Schunk

With thanks to Fabio Schunk.

Reference:

Schunck, F., Pina, P., Barata, F. & Olmos, F. 2022.  Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross Thalassarche chlororhynchos feeding on a dead sea turtle.  Marine Ornithology 50: 143-145.

John Cooper, ACAP News Correspondent, 21 October 2022

 
Kermadec Petrel and chick on Phillip Island, photograph from the Norfolk Island National Park

"Veteran conservation biologists" Nicholas Carlile and Terry O'Dwyer are featured in a 28-minute video by writer, photographer and videographer Stuart Cohen (Bottlebrush Media) on the Kermadec Petrels Pterodroma neglecta that breed on Australia’s Phillip Island, next to Norfolk Island in the south-west Pacific.

"Pterodroma - in search of the Kermadec Petrel"

The video’s description follows:

“This film is not just about a vulnerable seabird but rather an intimate portrait of two Australian scientists and friends, working together in the field, who share a passion for seabird conservation and a desire to unlock the secrets of a cryptic bird about which little is known.  One thousand kilometres off the East Coast of Australia lies a small uninhabited island that is home to 100,000 seabirds, one species of which is at risk and the focus of an intense search.

Nicholas Carlile and Dr Terry O'Dwyer are veteran conservation biologists absolutely devoted to the pursuit of knowledge about seabirds so that they can be conserved and protected.  On the remote 190-hectare (490 acres) Phillip Island, which lies just off the larger and better-known Norfolk Island, Nicholas and Terry have been carrying out regular surveys in search of the beautiful Kermadec Petrel.  No one knows where Kermadec Petrels go when they leave the island but the pair have found a way of tracking these birds with state of the art technology that will allow them to reveal the bird's, until now, secret travels across the globe.

Together they endure many challenges and the weather to find information about the Kermadec Petrel so that the species can be better protected in the future.”

Read more about Phillip Island's Kermadec Petrels here.

John Cooper, ACAP News Correspondent, 20 October 2022