An Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross broods its chick on the tussock slopes of the Entrecasteaux cliffs, Amsterdam Island

NOTE:  This post continues an occasional series that features photographs of the 31 ACAP-listed species, along with information from and about their photographers.  Here, Karine Delord features the globally Endangered Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross Thalassarche carteri which she has studied on the French Southern Ocean island of Amsterdam.

Karine Delord at the Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross colony on the Entrecasteaux cliffs, Amsterdam Island; photograph by Thierry Boulinier

Being an ecologist and wanting to discover the French sub-Antarctic islands go hand in hand with becoming one of the links in a long-term observatory system.  The monitoring programme, initiated more than 60 years ago by the Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), a CNRS laboratory in France, allows for the study of the islands’ bird and marine mammal communities.  As a privileged witness to global changes and their impacts on the environment I particularly appreciate the maxim ‘it is never too late to start long-term monitoring and it is always too early to stop’.  However, I did not start my career on southern islands, but rather in the mountain ecosystems of the Pyrénées, far from seabirds.  From there I moved to the CEBC from where I was able to discover France’s southern territories and their species.

The CEBC monitors the populations of 25 species of Southern Ocean top predators (particularly albatrosses and petrels) through a network of four research stations ranging from Antarctica (Dumont d'Urville, Terre Adélie), the sub-Antarctic Crozet and Kerguelen Island Groups to the subtropical Amsterdam and Saint-Paul Islands.  Long-term individual information (in particular through the capture-mark-recapture method) is used to understand the processes by which climate variables affect species and to make predictive scenarios on population trajectories taking into account climate change.

 
Getting too large to brood.  An inquisitive Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross chick looks at the photographer

Our long-term programme, supported by the French Polar Institut Paul Emile Victor (IPEV) and entitled “Birds and Marine Mammals as Sentinels of Global Change in the Southern Ocean” (Program: 109 ORNITHOECO) led by Christophe Barbraud, includes a conservation biology component and addresses, for example, issues related to the effects of fisheries on albatross and petrel populations.  This has led to collaborations with administrations and shipowners, enabling the implementation of effective conservation measures.  Every year we send volunteers to collect field data for our programme in the four districts (Crozet, Kerguelen, Amsterdam and Terre Adélie) for one year.

 
Indian Yellow-nosed Albatrosses breeding on the Entrecasteaux cliffs, Amsterdam Island

In 1998, I was able to join a scientific mission, jointly with a team of geologists from the University of Saint Etienne, which enabled me and my colleague Christophe Barbraud to carry out one of the few censuses of breeding petrel populations (Antarctic Fulmar Fulmarus glacialoides, Antarctic Petrel Thalassoica antarctica and Snow Petrel Pagodroma nivea) on the Antarctic coasts of King George V Land to the east of Terre Adélie.  The crossing between Tasmania and the Antarctic Continent on board the ship Astrolabe was for me an outstanding introduction to the Southern Ocean, where the exceptional diversity and density of seabirds (including albatrosses) seen remains a vivid memory.

Since the mid-2000s, I have been involved in studies of the accidental mortality of ACAP-listed Near Threatened Grey Procellaria cinerea and Vulnerable White-chinned P. aequinoctialis Petrels (both ACAP-listed species) linked to industrial fisheries (particularly by Patagonian Toothfish longliners).  These studies have led to major advances in the conservation of these two species in the French Southern Territories.

Subsequently, I have become involved in annual or ad hoc monitoring.  This was notably the case for issues related to pathogens, in collaboration with the Centre d'Etudes Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE, CNRS), at Montpellier, with the ECOPATH Programme (led by Thierry Boulinier) on the circulation of infectious agents in vertebrate populations.  I thus carried out a mission in 2013/14 on the Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross population that breeds on the cliffs of Entrecasteaux on Amsterdam Island.  This mission in collaboration with the TAAF National Nature Reserve aimed to identify and understand the modes of transmission of an infectious pathogen responsible for an epidemic, avian cholera, which kills a large proportion of the chicks each year and impacts the population.  The study also aimed to identify other top predator species that could be affected by the pathogen, such as the globally Endangered Amsterdam Albatross Diomedea amsterdamensis, a rare species endemic to the island.  This research is making progress on the knowledge of the infectious agent and its impact on the Indian yellow-nosed Albatross, although the Amsterdam population must also deal with other sources of threat. For example, this year was also marked by a major fire on the cliffs of Entrecasteaux which broke out in the middle of the breeding season (February 2021) and had devastating effects, affecting c. 95% of the surface area of the colony; as a result the reproductive success for this season is estimated at only 2%.

An Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross broods its chick at Entrecasteaux, with Cathedral Rock in the background

More recently, I carried out a multi-disciplinary mission with my colleagues Christophe Barbraud and Fabrice Le Bouard as well as agents of the TAAF National Nature Reserve on the island of Saint-Paul in 2018/2019 to estimate the seabird populations 20 years after the eradication of rats and rabbits.  The mission was an opportunity to observe the recolonisation of Saint-Paul by numerous species of seabirds, notably those known to be sensitive to predation by rats (MacGillivray’s Prion Pachyptila macgillivrayi, Fairy Prion P. turtur, Great-winged Petrel Pterodroma macroptera, Flesh-footed Shearwater Ardenna carnepeis, Subantarctic Shearwater Puffinus elegans, White-bellied Storm Petrel Fregetta grallaria and Antarctic Tern Sterna vittata) from their neighbouring refuge of La Roche Quille.  This also allowed us to update the population estimate of Flesh-footed Shearwaters breeding on Saint-Paul at the western limit of their range.  These very encouraging results for conservation argue for the eradication of the remaining introduced mammals (feral cats and rodents) on the neighbouring island of Amsterdam.

Selected Publications:

Barbraud, C., Delord, K., Le Bouard, F., Harivel, R., Demay, J., Chaigne, A. & Micol, T. 2021.  Seabird population changes following mammal eradication at oceanic Saint-Paul Island, Indian Ocean.  Journal for Nature Conservation 63. doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2021.126049.

Barbraud, C., Marteau, C., Ridoux, V., Delord, K. & Weimerskirch, H. 2008.  Demographic response of a population of white‐chinned petrels Procellaria aequinoctialis to climate and longline fishery bycatch. Journal of Applied Ecology 45: 1460-1467.

Barbraud, C., Rolland, V., Jenouvrier, S., Nevoux, M., Delord, K. & Weimerskirch, H. 2012.  Effects of climate change and fisheries bycatch on Southern Ocean seabirds: a review.  Marine Ecology Progress Series 454: 285-307.

Heerah, K., Dias, M.P., Delord, K., Oppel, S., Barbraud, C., Weimerskirch, H. & Bost, C.A. 2019.  Important areas and conservation sites for a community of globally threatened marine predators of the Southern Indian Ocean. Biological Conservation 234: 192-201.

Jaeger, A., Gamble, A., Lagadec, E., Lebarbenchon, C., Bourret, V., Tornos, J., Barbraud, C., Lemberger, K., Delord, K., Weimerskirch, H., Thiebot, J.-B., Boulinier, T. & Tortosa, P. 2020.  Impact of annual bacterial epizootics on albatross population on a remote island. EcoHealth 117: 194-202.

Ponchon, A., Gamble, A., Tornos, J., Delord, K., Barbraud, C., Travis, J.M.J., Weimerskirch, H. & Boulinier, T. In press. Similar at-sea behaviour but different habitat use between failed and successful breeding albatrosses. Marine Ecology Progress Series.

Karine Delord, Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, Villiers-en-Bois, France, 24 September 2021

 
A Northern Giant Petrel broods its downy chick on Marion Island

NOTE:  This post continues an occasional series that features photographs of the 31 ACAP-listed species, along with information from and about their photographers.  Here, Janine Schoombie features the Northern Giant Petrel Macronectes halli, (globally Least Concern but considered regionally Near Threatened) which she has studied on Marion Island.

Armed with nest stakes and under research permit, Janine Schoombie approaches a curious Northern Giant Petrel on its rock-protected nest

When I started studying aeronautical engineering, I never imagined that I would find myself on Marion Island, working with seabirds. After completing an MSc, I was very fortunate to join the M72 Overwintering Team to Marion Island in 2015.  Working for the FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology at the University of Cape Town as a research assistant I was tasked with monitoring the breeding success of four albatross and several petrel species, among them the Northern Giant Petrel.  I definitely did not consider myself a photographer (and still do not), but if you are on Marion Island and you have a camera you are bound to become obsessed with capturing all the spectacular sites and bird activity.

Giving the photographer the eye.  Iris colour in giant petrels can vary from near white to dark brown

From day one on the island I was fascinated by the Northern Giant Petrel.  Even outside their breeding season, there are always a couple flying around the research base.  When they glide past they often throw their heads back and call, which makes them look like winged horses, and their call is quite eerie and prehistoric.  They also have incredible eyes that look like cracks in the surface of some icy planet, which I could never capture properly with my camera.  I love their displays when they feed or defend their territories even though they can make quite a mess when they feed, which is probably not everyone’s favourite sight.

An incubating Northern Giant Petrel in a Marion monitoring colony reveals its J10 colour band that allows identification without further handling

You’re not super fit yet by the time the Northern Giant Petrels come back to the island to breed in August, and this is when the real snow starts on Marion as well.  So it was very hard work for me to set up the monitoring colonies, but they are such lovely birds to work with and it was quite exciting to go exploring for their nests in the snow.  There are three monitoring colonies near the research base and towards the end of laying, we do a round-island count which is basically a four-day Easter egg hunt. And that’s how you get island-fit!  Of all the island experiences I had, working on the Northern Giant Petrel monitoring are still some of my fondest memories of working on Marion and these huge petrels will always have a very special place in my heart.

Messy habits?  A bloody-faced Northern Giant Petrel on a Marion Island rocky beach
Photographs by Janine Schoombie

Since being a member of the M72 Overwintering Team I have made it my mission to insert myself into the polar science community and I was again fortunate to join the M76 Overwintering Team of 2019/20.  This time I started working on a South African National Antarctic (SANAP) project entitled “Modelling wind patterns and their ecological impacts on sub-Antarctic Marion Island”, towards my PhD at the University of Pretoria.  The project looks at the effects of wind on terrestrial ecology, combining my love for engineering and Marion Island.  Even though my focus is currently on how albatrosses interact with wind, I hope to extend my work to Northern Giant Petrels and to other seabirds in the future.

Janine Schoombie carefully approaches a Northern Giant Petrel to place a plastic ‘alphanumeric’ colour band on its leg for identification purposes

Selected Publications:

Dilley, B.J., Davies, D., Stevens, K., Schoombie, S., Schoombie, J. & Ryan, P.G. 2019.  Burrow wars and sinister behaviour among burrow-nesting petrels at sub-Antarctic Marion Island.  Ardea 107: 97-102.  [click here].

Dilley, B.J., Schoombie, S., Schoombie, J. & Ryan, P.G. 2016.  ‘Scalping’ of albatross fledglings by introduced mice spreads rapidly at Marion Island.  Antarctic Science 28: 73-80.  [click here].

Dilley, B.J., Schoombie, S., Stevens, K., Davies, D., Perold, V., Osborne, A., Schoombie, J., Brink, C.W., Carpenter-Kling, T. & Ryan, P.G. 2018.  Mouse predation affects breeding success of burrow-nesting petrels at sub-Antarctic Marion Island.  Antarctic Science 30: 93-104.  [click here].

Schoombie, S. & Schoombie, J. 2017.  Pseudo-egg “fabrication” by Grey-headed Albatrosses Thalassarche chrysostoma on Marion Island.  Seabird 30: 71-74.  [click here].

Schoombie, S., Schoombie, J., Brink, C.W., Stevens, K.L., Jones, C.W., Risi, M.M. & Ryan, P.G. 2019.  Automated extraction of bank angles from bird-borne video footage using open-source software. Journal of Field Ornithology 90: 361-372.  [click here].

Schoombie, S., Schoombie, J., Oosthuizen, A., Suleman, E., Jones, M.G.W., Pretorius, L., Dilley, B.J. & Ryan, P.G. 2017.  Avian pox in seabirds on Marion Island, southern Indian Ocean.  Antarctic Science 30: 3-12.  [click here].

Janine Schoombie, Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering, University of Pretoria, 23 September 2021

A banking Wandering Albatross, artwork with coloured pencils for ACAP by Milena A. Maira Marchesse

Stefan Schoombie (FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa) and colleagues published in 2019 in the Journal of Field Ornithology on detecting bank angles of globally Vulnerable Wandering Albatrosses Diomedea exulans in flight with bird-borne video cameras.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“The use of miniaturized video cameras to study the at-sea behavior of flying seabirds has increased in recent years. These cameras allow researchers to record several behaviors that were not previously possible to observe. However, video recorders produce large amounts of data and videos can often be time-consuming to analyze. We present a new technique using open-source software to extract bank angles from bird-borne video footage. Bank angle is a key facet of dynamic soaring, which allows albatrosses and petrels to efficiently search vast areas of ocean for food. Miniaturized video cameras were deployed on 28 Wandering Albatrosses (Diomedea exulans) on Marion Island (one of the two Prince Edward Islands) from 2016 to 2018. The OpenCV library for the Python programming language was used to extract the angle of the horizon relative to the bird’s body (= bank angle) from footage when the birds were flying using a series of steps focused on edge detection. The extracted angles were not significantly different from angles measured manually by three independent observers, thus being a valid method to measure bank angles. Image quality, high wind speeds, and sunlight all influenced the accuracy of angle estimates, but post-processing eliminated most of these errors. Birds flew most often with cross-winds (58%) and tailwinds (39%), resulting in skewed distributions of bank angles when birds turned into the wind more often. Higher wind speeds resulted in extreme bank angles (maximum observed was 94°). We present a novel method for measuring postural data from seabirds that can be used to describe the fine-scale movements of the dynamic-soaring cycle. Birds appeared to alter their bank angle in response to varying wind conditions to counter wind drift associated with the prevailing westerly winds in the Southern Ocean. These data, in combination with fine-scale positional data, may lead to new insights into dynamic-soaring flight.”

With thanks to Janine Schoombie.

Reference:

Schoombie, S., Schoombie, J., Brink, C.W., Stevens, K.L., Jones, C.W., Risi, M.M. & Ryan, P.G. 2019.  Automated extraction of bank angles from bird-borne video footage using open-source software.  Journal of Field Ornithology 90: 361-372.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 22 September 2021

Mike Double, as he writes “looking suitably cold down in Antarctica”

At the 12th Meeting of the ACAP Advisory Committee, held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic earlier this month, its Chair, Nathan Walker (Ministry for Primary Industries, New Zealand) stood down.  The meeting then elected Dr Michael Double in his place.

Mike Double is a Principal Research Scientist at the Australian Antarctic Division, based in Kingston, Tasmania where he leads the AAD’s Wildlife Ecology and Management Section (that conducts research on ACAP-listed species) and the Australian Marine Mammal Centre.  Mike obtained his PhD from the United Kingdom’s University of Leicester in 1995.  He then moved to Australia to take up a post-doctoral fellowship at the Australian National University in Canberra, followed by a move to the Australian Antarctic Division in 2007.  His research interests include the movement, distribution and population ecology of both marine mammals and seabirds.  His more than 90 scientific publications include several papers on the biology, taxonomy and conservation of ACAP-listed Shy Thalassarche cauta and White-capped T. steadi Albatrosses.

Mike writes to ACAP Latest News:

"It’s an honour to be elected as Chair of the Advisory Committee and I look forward to serving ACAP and its Parties to progress the conservation of albatrosses and petrels.  These iconic birds of wild oceans continue to face many threats and although ACAP and its Parties have many conservation successes to celebrate, populations continue to decline.  ACAP’s role remains as critical as ever and I hope I can facilitate further steps towards reducing human-induced impacts on ACAP-listed species.”

Prior to his appointment as AC Chair, Mike Double served as a member of the Agreement’s Taxonomy Working Group from 2005, a large part of that period as its Convenor.  He has also attended international meetings of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) and the International Whaling Commission (IWC) as a member of Australia’s delegations.

At AC12 Sebastián Jiménez (Uruguay) was appointed Co-convenor and Dimas Gianuca (Brazil) Co-vice convenor of ACAP’s Seabird Bycatch Working Group, which had met virtually a week before AC12.  These appointments were occasioned by the resignation of the SBWG’s Co-convenor, Anton Wolfaardt, so that he may concentrate his efforts as Project Leader for the Mouse-Free Marion Project.

The Advisory Committee took the occasion to thank Nathan for his leadership and dedication to the work of the Advisory Committee and Anton for his leadership and contributions to the Seabird Bycatch Working Group over many years.

With thanks to Mike Double.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 21 September 2021