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Alexander Bond (Department of Biology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada) and Jennifer Lavers, writing in the  Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, have looked at trace metal levels in the feathers of Flesh-footed Shearwaters Puffinus carneipes, a potential-candidate species for ACAP listing.

A Flesh-footed Shearwater heads for its burrow
Photograph by Barry Baker

The paper's abstract follows:

"Seabirds are convenient indicators of contamination of the marine environment because feathers can be sampled non-destructively, and a great deal is known about their ecology.  Flesh-footed Shearwaters (Puffinus carneipes) are of conservation concern in Australia and New Zealand, partly because ingestion of marine debris may be reducing breeding success at their largest colony.  Because marine plastics accumulate contaminants in the ocean environment, an assessment of metal and metalloid contaminants was initiated.  We sampled feathers from Kauwahaia (n = 18) and Lady Alice Island, New Zealand (n = 30), Lord Howe Island (n = 24) and Western Australia (n = 33) during the 2008 austral summer, making this the most complete assessment of metal and metalloid contamination of any shearwater.  We found colony differences in all elements except lead and thallium.  Samples from Western Australia had higher silver, aluminium, cadmium, and copper concentrations, while shearwaters from Lord Howe Island (eastern Australia) had elevated concentrations of mercury (mean ± S.D., 11221 ± 5612 ppb).  We conclude that mercury, and potentially arsenic and cadmium represent toxicological concerns for this declining species."

Selected References:

Bond, A.L. & Lavers, J.L. 2011.  Trace element concentrations in feathers of Flesh-footed Shearwaters (Puffinus carneipes) from across their breeding range.  Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 61: 318-326.

Priddel, D., Carlile, N., Fullagar, P., Hutton, I. O'Neill, L. 2006.  Decline in the distribution and abundance of flesh-footed shearwaters (Puffinus carneipes) on Lord Howe Island, Australia.  Biological Conservation 128: 412-424.

Click here to see a list of selected papers published on Flesh-footed Shearwaters in the last decade or so.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 30 January 2012