ACAP Latest News

Read about recent developments and findings in procellariiform science and conservation relevant to the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels in ACAP Latest News.

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Not My Little Pony. A Northern Royal Albatross chick at Pukekura/Taiaroa Head, New Zealand avoids ingesting plastic

 Northern Royal Albatross chick plastic pony Theo Thompson

A fortunate chick this time: the plastic pony lies on the nest’s edge, photograph by Theo Thompson

That albatrosses mistake floating plastic debris for food items, swallow them and later regurgitate them to their chicks must now be well known.  Probably the most reported cases are from Laysan Albatrosses Phoebastria immutabilis (globally Near Threatened) of the North Pacific which feed their chicks everything from cigarette lighters, toothbrushes, bottle tops, toy soldiers and action figures, as well as miscellaneous plastic fragments, as illustrated by a number of artworks and displays made from plastic objects collected from around nests or from within the decaying corpses of chicks (click here).  This problem has been brought to a wider audience by Chris Jordan in his evocative documentary Albatross filmed on Midway Atoll.  It seems Southern Hemisphere albatrosses are less affected by ingesting plastic, although they are certainly not immune as has been regularly reported in ACAP Latest News over the last decade.

The latest example of ingested plastic comes from the intensively managed mainland colony of Northern Royal Albatrosses Diomedea sanfordi (globally Endangered and nationally Naturally Uncommon) at Pukekura/Taiaroa Head on New Zealand’s South Island.  Biodiversity Ranger Sharyn Broni reports on the Royal Albatross Centre Facebook page.  “This 9 cm long plastic pony was found at one chick’s nest on Tuesday during morning rounds.  We believe a parent regurgitated this for a chick, it may have been in fish that it caught. Fortunately, the chick did not take it.”  Previous plastic items found associated with Taiaroa’s albatrosses have included bottle caps, squid lures, fishing floats, a container tab and the handle of an infant formula scoop

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 05 May 2021

The Third World Seabird Conference is to be held virtually in October, and today the Seventh World Seabird Twitter Conference starts

 WSC3

Due to the COVID-18 pandemic, a decision was made by the World Seabird Union and local hosts, the Australasian Seabird Group, to cancel the face-to-face 3rd World Seabird Conference - already postponed from its original dates in 2020..  Instead, it will now be held virtually over 4-8 October 2021.  Further information regarding schedule, registration, additional submission opportunities and more will be announced in the coming months.  “We're looking forward to a virtual event that is inclusive, diverse, and representative of the global nature of seabirds.”

The 1st World Seabird Conference was held in Victoria, Canada in September 2010.  The 2nd World Seabird Conference was held in Cape Town, South Africa in October 2015.  Nearly 600 delegates from 52 countries attended the Cape Town conference for oral presentations, symposia, workshops, two poster sessions and networking opportunities.

WSTC7 logo FINAL  

In the meantime, the Seventh World Seabird Twitter Conference (WSTC7) is being held this week over 4-6 May with over 140 presentations expected.  The WSTC is an annual, Twitter-based conference with presentations on seabird research and conservation from around the world.  During the conference each presenter has 15 minutes in which to make four tweets about their topic.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 04 May 2021

First record of an adult Tristan Albatross killed by mice on Gough Island

Dead Tristan Albatross 5 Peter Ryan

The wounded Tristan Albatross, still brooding its chick, photograph by Peter Ryan

During regular monitoring of nests of the Critically Endangered Tristan Albatross Diomedea dabbenena within a long-term study colony in Gonydale on the UK’s Gough Island in the South Atlantic two nests observed recently had adults carrying wounds.  At one nest the female of the pair with a deep wound on her back was brooding a chick. This wound was much worse than one seen on a different adult in 2018 which was suspected at the time (though not proven) to have been caused by the island’s introduced House Mice.  On a return visit the wound of the female seen sitting on her chick had proved fatal, with her body lying a little way from the nest.  Later the island’s Subantarctic Skuas Catharacta antarctica were observed scavenging from the corpse.

 Dead Tristan Albatross 3 Rolf Daling

Dead Tristan Albatross 1 Rolf Daling

 The female has succumbed to its wounds (left); the male on the nest with its dead partner behind (right); photographs by Rolf Daling

The female bird was banded as a chick with metal number J-04145 on 27 September 1986 in Gonydale by a research team from the FitzPatrick Institute, University of Cape Town.  On 10 January 2008 the bird was found incubating in Gonydale by a team led by ACAP’s Information Officer when a yellow colour band E80 was added as part of settimg up the long-term study.  Since then records show it bred successfully six times in eight attempts, with at least one partner change.

"As for what is left of these two nests… With only one parent now providing food, the chick of the dead adult might take longer to fledge and is likely to be in a weaker state, multiplying the threat from the mice and making it less likely to survive at sea. At our last check at the other nest, there was no sign of the wounded adult and the nest had failed." (click here).  There are published cases of single parents (of either gender) of the closely-related Wandering Albatross Diomedea exulans raising a chick to fledging, so the Tristan Albatross chick may yet survive without its female parent.

Watch a short video of the male brooding the chick while its dead partner lies nearby surrounded by skuas.

An attempt to eradicate the mice is due to be made this austral winter by the Gough Island Restoration Programme.

With thanks to Steffen Oppel, Antje Steinfurth and Kim Stevens, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

Reference:

Brown, C.R. & Adams, N.J. 1984.  Female Wandering Albatross Diomedea exulans raising a chick on its own on Marion Island.  Cormorant 12: 103-104

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 03 May 2021

Balearic Shearwaters stranded along Portugal’s central coast due to bycatch and entanglement

 Balearic Shearwater Pep Arcos 8

Balearic Shearwater at sea, photograph by Pep Arcos

Rute Costa (Departamento de Biologia, Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal) and colleagues have published in the European Journal of Wildlife Research on coastal strandings and rehabilitation of seabirds in Portugal. The stranded seabirds included 62 ACAP-listed and Critically Endangered Balearic Shearwaters Puffinus mauretanicus. of which 46 were categorized as due to “Entanglement/Bycatch”, defined as birds “presenting fishing related material (hooks, lines, nets and cables) and other marine debris such as non-fishing lines or ropes”.  All but two of the 46 were dead on arrival at a rehabilitation centre or did not survive when under care.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Thousands of marine animals are injured and killed each year across Europe. Wildlife rehabilitation centres play an important role to rehabilitate sick and injured animals and return them to the wild. This study aims to assess seabird rehabilitation outcomes and causes of mortality of stranded seabirds in the central Portuguese coast. During a 7-year period (2010–2016) a total of 2042 admissions were registered, including 1135 live and 907 dead seabirds. The main causes for live admissions were trauma (30%) and toxicity (29.5%) and the main cause of all admissions (dead and alive) was entanglement/bycatch representing 42.5% of all seabirds. Large gulls, auks, gannets, and shearwaters and petrels were the most admitted seabird groups. A total of 445 seabirds (39%) were [sic] released to the wild following rehabilitation, 346 (31%) died during the rehabilitation process and 344 (30%) were considered untreatable after diagnosis and were euthanised. Considering the rehabilitation success rate and the high number of individuals admitted due to causes associated with human activities (entanglement/bycatch, trauma), marine animal rehabilitation centres and stranding networks are important to seabird conservation. These data also contribute to monitor the impacts of human activities on seabird populations outside their breeding areas.”

With thanks to Janine Dunlop, Niven Librarian, University of Cape Town.

Reference:

Costa, R.A., Sá, S., Pereira, A.T., Ferreira, M., Vingada, J.V. & Eira, C. 2021.  Threats to seabirds in Portugal: integrating data from a rehabilitation centre and stranding network. European Journal of Wildlife Research doi.org/10.1007/s10344-021-01483-5.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 02 May 2021

Midway’s latest Short-tailed Albatross chick gets banded

2021 Midway Short tail chick banding 3

The Short-tailed Albatross chick gets its bands from Jon Plissner and Chris Forster

George and Geraldine make up the sole pair of Vulnerable Short-tailed Albatrosses Diomedea albatrus that breed on Midway Atoll’s Sand Island.  They commenced breeding on the island in 2018 after first meeting up on the island in 2016 and have attempted breeding every year since.  Their third chick, which was thought to have hatched on 1 January has grown to a size when it could be banded with metal and colour bands as reported recently by the Friends of Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge on its Facebook page.

 

 2021 Midway Short tail chick banding 2

2021 Midway Short tail chick banding 5

On go the metal and colour (Red AA10) bands, photographs by Jon Brack

“The 2021 Short-tailed Albatross chick on Midway Atoll within the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument is now banded!  Last week, FWS biologist Jon Plissner decided that it was time to band the chick because its leg was now big enough to handle the numbered metal and aux [colour] bands that it will wear when we expect it will be able to take flight out to sea in about a month.  These bands will help this bird be identifiable as it matures to adulthood and hopefully has offspring of its own some day.  The chick is already surprisingly huge, larger than an adult Laysan Albatross and still mostly fluffy in its down plumage.  Adult Short-tailed Albatrosses weigh about twice as much as an adult Laysan."

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 01 May 2021

The Agreement on the
Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels

ACAP is a multilateral agreement which seeks to conserve listed albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters by coordinating international activity to mitigate known threats to their populations.

About ACAP

ACAP Secretariat

119 Macquarie St
Hobart TAS 7000
Australia

Email: secretariat@acap.aq
Tel: +61 3 6165 6674