A Wandering Albatross in the southern Indian Ocean, photograph by Kirk Zufelt

Ruijiao Sun (Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts, USA) and colleagues have published in Geophysical Research Letters on the relationship between westerly winds from subtropical anticyclones and Wandering Albatrosses Diomedea exulans.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Subtropical anticyclones are semi-permanent atmospheric high-pressure systems located in all five major ocean basins and are associated with large-scale wind and weather patterns.  They shape the physical environments of many species, yet their impacts on wildlife remain effects of the Mascarene High, the Southern Indian Ocean subtropical anticyclone, on a wind-reliant marine top predator.  Using 39 years of population data for wandering albatrosses (Diomedea exulans) breeding in the Southern Indian Ocean, we explored the mechanisms linking variability in the subtropical anticyclone to demographic rates.  We found that an intensified and poleward-shifted Mascarene High toward Antarctica enhances westerly winds, increasing survival and reproduction probability across all life stages of wandering albatrosses. These findings uncover a direct link between subtropical anticyclones and population dynamics, highlighting subtropical anticyclones as important drivers of the responses of wind-reliant taxa to climate variability and change.”

Reference:

Sun, R., Rouby, E., Barbraud, C., Weimerskirch, H., Delord, K., Krumhardt, K., Ventura, F., Ummenhofer, C.C. &  Jenouvrier, S. 2026.  Mascarene high variability shapes the demography of a wind-reliant marine top predator.  Geophysical Research Letters 53, e2026GL122317.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 23 June 2026

Mouse-Free Marion Project, South Africa

World Albatross Day held on 19 June with the 2026 theme of “Habitat Restoration” has passed, and the response from around the world to the seventh holding has been most heartening.  Some of the activities and events held to mark the day will be featured here on ACAP Latest News over the next few days.  To start off, here is a portfolio of posters for WAD2026 from around the world that have been culled from websites and social media.

American Bird Conservancy, USA

South African National Antarctic Programme, South Africa

 Department of Conservation, New Zealand

 Namibian Nature Foundation, Namibia

 Artists & Biologists Unite for Nature, International

 KHarvill ART, Brazil

 BirdLife International

 Convention on Migratory Species

 Falklands Conservation, South Atlantic

 South African Polar Research Institute, South Africa

 Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels

 The Birding Life, South Africa

 Galapagos National Park, Ecuador

Hawaii Birdwatching, USA

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 22 June 2026, posted 23 June 2026

Gough Island is reflected in the eye of an Endangered Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross Thalassarche chlorohynchos, artwork and poster design by by Artists and Biologists Unite for Nature co-founder, Kitty Harvill, after photographs by Chris Jones and Michelle Risi

In May 2019 ACAP's Advisory Committee at its Eleventh Meeting (AC11) held in Brazil declared that a conservation crisis continues to be faced by its 31 listed species, with thousands of albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters dying every year as a result of fisheries operations.  Albatrosses are among the most threatened group of birds globally, with 21 of the 22 species currently listed as Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable or Near Threatened on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.  Only the abundant Black-browed Albatross T. melanophris is currently categorised as Least Concern.

Two decoys (in front) and a sound system broadcasting calls have attracted a live Laysan Albatross to land within a predator-proof fence in the James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge, photograph by Lindsay Young

Attempting to establish a new colony: a translocated Chatham Albatross Thalassarche eremita chick gets hand fed a defrosted squid on its artificial nest at Point Gap in the Chatham Islands.  Two adult decoys on bucket nests are visible behind (click here)

To increase awareness of this conservation crisis ACAP inaugurated a World Albatross Day (WAD), to be held annually from 2020 on 19 June, the date the Agreement was signed in 2001.  This year, the 7th World Albatross Day (WAD2026) will be celebrated by conservationists and wildlife advocates worldwide with the theme “Habitat Restoration”, as an opportunity to highlight the conservation crisis faced by these iconic ocean dwellers.  Each year ACAP has chosen a theme to mark the day.  The inaugural theme was “Eradicating Island Pests”. “Ensuring Albatross-friendly Fisheries” followed in 2021, then came “Climate Change” in 2022, “Plastic Pollution” in 2023, “Marine Protected Areas” in 2024 and “Effects of Disease” in 2025.

64 artworks by Artists and Biologists Unite for Nature are all depicted in a collage poster by Kitty Harvill

The 2026 theme of Habitat Restoration includes such activities as eradication or control of introduced plants and animals at breeding sites, reducing light pollution, provision of predator-proof fences, establishment of new breeding colonies by attraction techniques and translocations of eggs and chicks, candling and substituting infertile with fertile eggs, supplementary feeding and hydration of chicks, artificial incubation during hatching, and use of artificial nests, fly repellents and sprinkler systems to improve breeding success.

Two albatross species are being used to feature the theme for WAD2026, with posters and infographics being produced in the ACAP official languages, English, French and Spanish, as well as 64 artworks by 37 artists and a music video produced by members of  the Artists and Biologists Unite for Nature international collective (ABUN).  The featured species are the Endangered Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross Thalassarche chlororhynchos, endemic to the Tristan da Cunha islands, part of the United Kingdom Overseas Territory of St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic; and the Vulnerable Chatham Albatross T. eremita, endemic to the Chatham Islands, New Zealand.

A new World Albatross Day logo (in four languages and two formats) has also been produced for 2026.

ACAP Secretariat, 19 June 2026

“A New Dawn”.  Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross and Gough Island by Deepti Jain of Artists & Biologists Unite for Nature (ABUN), after photographs by Chris Jones and Laurie Smaglick Johnson

Tomorrow is the Seventh World Albatross Day to be celebrated by conservationists worldwide.  Each year ACAP has chosen a theme to mark the day.  The inaugural theme in 2020 was “Eradicating Island Pests”.  “Ensuring Albatross-friendly Fisheries” followed in 2021, then came “Climate Change” in 2022, “Plastic Pollution” in 2023, “Marine Protected Areas” in 2024 and “Effects of Disease” in 2025.  This year’s theme is “Habitat Restoration".

Bycatch remains an issue: a trawler in the South Atlantic is surrounded by Black-browed Albatrosses Thalassarche melanophris, photograph by Leo Tamini

The seven themes covered by World Albatross Day since its inauguration address most of, but not all, the risks that albatrosses and petrels face.  At varying levels of significance for the different ACAP-listed species, threats, real and potential, include light pollution at sea and on land, offshore structures (oil rigs and wind farms) and human disturbance and exploitation.

These threats could be considered as themes for future World Albatross Days.  Notably, light pollution affects at least four of the ACAP-listed petrel species, but not, it seems, albatrosses, which in the main breed on uninhabited islands.  Light pollution becoming a theme for a World Albatross Day would imply that the day should also address conservation risks facing petrels and shearwaters.  Bycatch of albatrosses and petrels by fisheries continues, so a theme could revisit this issue, perhaps directed at high-seas fisheries.

Street lights down ACAP-listed and Endangered Westland Petrels Procellaria westlandica on South Island, New Zealand, leading to them becoming roadkill from passing vehicles

ACAP Latest News would be pleased to receive comments on the above suggested themes, or proposals for new ones.  It is wished to announce the theme for World Albatross Day on 19 June 2027 during the second half of the current year.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 18 May 2026