An ACAP Species Infographic for the Endangered Sooty Albatross Phoebetria fusca in support of this year's World Albatross Day and its theme of Climate Change is now available.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. The infographic has been co-published with South Africa's Mouse-Free Marion Project, which aims to eradicate the island’s introduced House Mice Mus musculus in 2014  The mice have taken to attacking and killing the seabirds, including its breeding Sooty Albatrosses – as is illustrated in the infographic.

Versions in the three ACAP official languages of English, French and Spanish are available for six of the nine; French and Spanish versions for the three infographics, including the Sooty, produced this year will be released soon.  Available in two poster sizes (approximately A2 and A3) and in a web version, the infographic may be freely downloaded and used non-commercially and with acknowledgement in the support of albatross conservation.

Attacked by mice at night, this Sooty Albatross chick on Marion Island will not survive; photograph by Stefan Schoombie

The Sooty Albatross Infographic follows on from the eight previously produced for the Endangered Antipodean Diomedea antipodensis, Near Threatened Black-footed Phoebastria nigripes, Endangered Grey-headed Thalassarche chrysostoma, Near Threatened Laysan P. immutabilis, Near Threatened Shy T. cauta, Critically Endangered Tristan D. dabbenena, Vulnerable Wandering D. exulans and Waved Phoebastria irrorata Albatrosses.

All the infographics have been created by Thai illustrator Namasri ‘Namo’ Niumim who has also produced a poster illustrating the albatrosses depicted on the infographics (click here).

Sponsorships for a further six infographics have been obtained, including for three ACAP-listed petrels.  It is intended they will be prepared and released over the next 12 months in time for World Albatross Day on 19 June 2022.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 28 June 2022

"Sea into the Future" by Amy King

“I've baked a vanilla sponge with jam and cream, a British summer classic, but iced it with a Sooty Albatross (they are my favourite so had to be on there) a Waved Albatross, as I hope to see one eventually, and a Black-browed Albatross as we have one currently hanging out at the UK's Bempton Cliffs Nature Reserve I'm working on this summer, with all the Northern Gannets and other seabirds.  The rising sea levels are creeping towards the chick on the nest, and the Sooty is shading under a sun umbrella, with the writing in flame colours to represent a hotter climate"

Forming part of the inaugural launch of World Albatross Day on 19 June 2020, the hugely successful Great Albicake Bake Off Competition saw photographs of no less than  74 cakes submitted from all over the world.  Everyone can agree that the calibre of some of the entries was on completely different wing sets!

“Rising Seas, Albatross Flee” by Emma Houghton
“Aa peanut butter cake with vanilla frosting waves.  The nest is topped with Biscoff crumbs and the Laysan Albatross is a moulded rice crispy treat”

"Caring for our Future" by Vanessa Stone
“A vanilla buttermilk cake with Italian frosting buttercream icing with supportive hands and chocolate wings”

This year the theme for World Albatross Day 2022 is Climate Change, so we put the call out encouraging bird-loving bakers that albatross cakes do not need a competition to be created for a second Albicake Bake Off.  An albicake needs only an inspired and enthusiastic baker to celebrate this threatened group of birds in deliciously sweet form! We encouraged all albicake bakers to submit their creations on social media with the tag #albicakebakeoff – even though no official competition was being organised.

Slippery Slope", a chocolate-coffee cake with tumbling albatross eggs, chicks and nests as the climate heats up, by Kim Stevens & Vonica Perold (pictured) and Roelf Daling on Gough Island

And the cakes did not disappoint!  From a Sooty Albatross sunbaking on a beach to an albatross fleeing from rising seas – their bakers did wonders by incorporating this very grave theme into very delicious-looking cakes. Five different cakes were shared with ACAP, overall, the cakes emphasize how important it is to care for our 22 species of albatrosses.

Michelle Risi on Aldabra holds her vanilla sponge cake “Aldabra's Lonely Albatross”, with endemic species Aldabra Giant Tortoise (“torties will eat anything”) and a curious Aldabra White-throated Rail

“It's 100 years into the future, and we humans have not done enough to stem the swift impact of climate change. The sea level has risen and now 500 m of coastline has been lost around Aldabra, severely reducing the land area.  The ocean is green due to rampant algal blooms (also due to limited food colouring options on a remote atoll).  And due to  severe droughts, the land is completely barren.  Tortoises are extinct because their existence was tied to the vegetation they ate.  Strong wind events have blown one of the few remaining albatrosses far off course, and it flies, sadly, over Aldabra ”

For the love of albatrosses, there needn’t ever be a reason to bake an albicake.  As Marie Antoinette once said, “Let them eat cake!”*.

“Michelanie” (Melanie Wells, Hobart, Australia & Michelle Risi, Aldabra, Seychelles), 27 June 2022

*Actually, it seems certain she didn’t (click here) - Ed.

Anton Wolfaardt holds his MFM Sponsor a Hectare certificate received in appreciation from the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP)

In celebration of World Albatross Day this year with its theme of Climate Change, the Mouse-Free Marion Project Leader, Anton Wolfaardt gave the 100th online lecture in BirdLife South Africa’s regular Conservation Conversations series on 21 June.  His talk can now be viewed via Youtube here.

Read a recent ACAP Latest News post by Anton marking World Albatross Day.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 24 June 2022

Black-browed Albatrosses breeding on New Island, photograph by Ian Strange

New Island in the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)* is a breeding site for c. 17 700 pairs (in 2000) of Black-browed Albatrosses Thalassarche melanophris (Least Concern), less than 50 pairs of Vulnerable White-chinned Petrels Procellaria aequinoctialis , around 50 pairs of Southern Giant Petrels Macronectes giganteus (Least Concern) and very large numbers (over one million pairs; the world’s largest known colony) of Thin-billed Prions Pachyptila belcheri, as well as cormorants and penguins.  Established as a private nature reserve in 1972, in 2006 the island came under the management of the New Island Conservation Trust.  New Island is an Important Bird Area and a Key Biodiversity Area and a site for seabird research.

A Black-browed Albatross colony on New Island, photograph by Georgina Strange

The environmental NGO (and BirdLife partner) Falklands Conservation, which merged with the trust in July 2020, has this month announced a restoration project for New Island.  Over the next two years the best approach to removing four invasive mammals (feral cats Felis catus, European Rabbits Oryctolagus cuniculus, Black Rats Rattus rattus and House Mice Mus musculus) will be investigated, with support from the UK’s Darwin Initiative grants scheme.  Domestic sheep and cattle were removed from the island in the late 1970s.

Read more in Penguin News.

Reference:

Brown, D. 2013.  Feasibility Study Report for the Potential Eradication of Ship Rats, Mice, Rabbits and Feral Cats from New Island, Falkland Islands.   New Island Conservation Trust.  87 pp.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 23 June 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.