An incubating Wandering Albatross on Bird Island, photograph by Derren Fox

Each austral summer on Bird Island, South Georgia (Islas Georgias del Sur)* in the South Atlantic the annual Wandering Albatross Diomedea exulans (Vulnerable) nest census takes place.  It is completed at the end of January when all of the Wanderers that are going to attempt breeding for that season are incubating.  The 2021 results are 671 eggs, a five-year high for the island. It's reported that there wasn't an abnormally high failure rate on Bird Island in the previous season (failed birds will return the next year to try agan in a species that only breeds every second year if successful thus boosting the numbers) so the current season could be a combination of both this and more first-time breeders recruting to the population laying eggs.

Information from the Facebook Page of BirdLife International’s Albatross Task Force.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 06 March 2021, updated 09 Maech 2021

*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 Flesh-footed Shearwater pair on Lord Howe Island, photograph by Ian Hutton

Megan Grant (Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Newnham, Australia) and colleagues have published in the journal Environmental Pollution on estimating how many pieces of plastic Flesh-footed Shearwaters Ardenna carneipes import to Lord Howe Island.

The publication's graphical abstract

 The paper’s abstract follows:

“Seabirds are apex predators in the marine environment and well-known ecosystem engineers, capable of changing their terrestrial habitats by introducing marine-derived nutrients via deposition of guano and other allochthonous inputs. However, with the health of the world’s oceans under threat due to anthropogenic pressures such as organic, inorganic, and physical pollutants, seabirds are depositing these same pollutants wherever they come to land. Using data from 2018 to 2020, we quantify how the Flesh-footed Shearwater (Ardenna carneipes) has inadvertently introduced physical pollutants to their colonies on Lord Howe Island, a UNESCO World Heritage site in the Tasman Sea and their largest breeding colony, through a mix of regurgitated pellet (bolus) deposition and carcasses containing plastic debris. The density of plastics within the shearwater colonies ranged between 1.32 and 3.66 pieces/m² (mean ± SE: 2.18 ± 0.32), and a total of 688,480 (95% CI: 582,409–800,877) pieces are deposited on the island each year. Our research demonstrates that seabirds are a transfer mechanism for marine-derived plastics, reintroducing items back into the terrestrial environment, thus making seabird colonies a sink for plastic debris. This phenomenon is likely occurring in seabird colonies across the globe and will increase in severity as global plastic production and marine plastic pollution accelerates without adequate mitigation strategies.”

Plastic being removed from a Flesh-footed Shearwater stomach, photograph by Ian Hutton

The Near Threatened Flesh-footed Shearwater was identified in 2019 as a possible candidate for listing within the Agreement.

Reference:

Grant, M.L., Lavers, J.L., Hutton, I. & Bond, A.L. 2021.  Seabird breeding islands as sinks for marine plastic debris.  Environmental Pollution doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2021.116734.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 05 March 2021

Petrel and shearwater heads by Linda Mahoney, poster design by Michelle Risi

The Albatross and Petrel Agreement is particularly pleased to have collaborated once again with Artists & Biologists Unite for Nature (ABUN) on its 35th Project entitled “Painting Petrels in Peril” during January and February this year.  The task for ABUN’s dedicated artists around the world was to paint or draw the nine ACAP-listed petrels and shearwaters.  ACAP’s first collaboration with ABUN last year was to produce artworks of the world’s 22 species of albatrosses that could then be used as online images to help raise awareness of the inaugural World Albatross Day on 19 June.

  “Petrels in peril in pastel pencils, with pleasure” by Di Roberts

For the World Albatross Day Project #30 in 2020 photographers made several hundred photographs featuring all 22 albatross species available to ABUN that artists could then use as inspiration for their artworks.  After the two months of the project 77 artists had produced no less than 324 paintings and drawings of albatrosses for ACAP, several artists accepting the challenge of painting all 22 species (click here for a selection).  Following another successful call for photographs, the 2021 petrel project which finished this week has resulted in 106 artworks produced by 48 ABUN artists.  This gives a combined total of 430 artworks for the 31 listed species available to help support ACAP and its efforts in contributing to the conservation of albatrosses and petrels.  A remarkable achievement and one for which ACAP is hugely grateful.  The artworks have been used to create posters and music videos and to illustrate many news posts to the ACAP website.  Together the two projects have resulted in a treasure trove of art that ACAP will be able to draw on for years to come.

“Petrels in Peril”, artwork and design by Grisselle Chock

On a rare personal note, working with Kitty Harvill, ABUN’s Co-founder, has been nothing but a pleasure, as it has been with several dozen ABUN artists with whom I have been in direct contact about their works.  ABUN really is a caring and committed community!

With thanks to Kitty Harvill, all the participating ABUN artists, and Michelle Risi for her poster design. A selection of the petrel and shearwater artworks by ABUN will soon appear on this website, along withm the three illustrated here.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 04 March 2021

Perhaps disruptions in international mailings last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic hindered ACAP Latest News continuing with its occasional reviews of books that deal with ACAP-listed species and their habitats.  Whatever the reason, and to keep ALN followers up to date, it is intended to post details of a few recent(ish) titles without the usual reviews from copies received.  First up is Otto Plantema’s privately published “Around the World for Albatrosses” subtitled “Where to See All the Albatross Species”.

The following is from the publisher’s ‘blurb’:

“Thinking about albatrosses is thinking about remote, uninhabited, windswept islands in the vast open oceans. As being the ultimate marine family, seeing one of the 21 species* of Diomedeidae is often one of the highlights of a birdwatcher’s trip. Many of them aren’t very easy to see for the land-based birder and access to the colonies is often restricted and expensive.

Otto Plantema has extensively sailed the oceans in search for albatrosses and other seabirds. He has visited breeding colonies of all but one species (Amsterdam Island Albatross) in order to photograph them. Quite a few species were encountered more often than a couple of times. The book offers a quick and structured overview of where, when and how to see albatrosses. But it is more than a ‘where to watch birds’ book with pictures.

After an introductory chapter which briefly describes taxonomy, ecology, threats, breeding biology and photography, the book describes the main geographical areas which you have to visit if you want to see all the species near or in the colony: Falkland Islands, South Georgia, Tristan da Cunha archipelago, French Subantarctic islands, New Zealand and Subantarctic islands and the (Subtropical) North Pacific (Hawaii, Japan and Galapagos). Most chapters contain a paragraph on history and geography per island followed by a how to visit these islands and the species accounts, which contain: identification (briefly), history, population, distribution, behavior, breeding, threats and status.”

A page from "Around the World for Albatrosses"

It’s stated that a portion of proceeds from sales will go to the BirdLife International’s Albatross Task Force.

*ACAP recognizes 22 species of albatrosses.

Reference:

Plantema, Otto 2019.  Around the World for Albatrosses. Where to See All the Albatross Species.  Privately published.  148 pages, colour photos, colour maps. Hardback.  UK Pounds 34.99.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 02 March 2021