Breeding Laysan Albatrosses at the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Reserve and USFWS volunteer Louise Barnfield completing a weekly survey.  Photographs from Louise Barnfield

Results of the 2024/25 breeding season of Laysan Albatrosses or Mōlī Phoebastria immutabilis within the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Reserve on the Hawaiian island of Kauai are now in.  Out of 154 occupied nests within the reserve, 122 chicks were counted, giving a hatching success of 79.2%.  Predation by feral pigs early in the breeding season reduced fledging success to 53.3% and overall breeding success to 42.2%.

The remaining population of feral pigs had been removed from with the predator exclusion fence by May 2025, so it seems likely that the 2025/26 breeding season will show improved figures over the season just past.

There was a record number of 157 pairs of Laysan Albatrosses breeding within the reserve in the 2023/24 season – 20 more than in the previous season.  In the 2022/23 season pigs gained entry and destroyed nearly 70 albatross nests, prior to completion of the fence (click here).

Percentages calculated from information in the August 2025 issue of the Friends of Kauai Wildlife Refuges’ online newsletter “Wild Times”.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 04 September 2025

A breeding Grey-headed Albatross on Bird Island, photograph by Richard Phillips

Elizabeth Mackley (British Antarctic Survey, Madingley Road, Cambridge, UK) and colleagues have published in the open access journal Endangered Species Research on the most recent survey of three albatross species on South Georgia/Islas Georgias del Sur* in the South Atlantic.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Marine ecosystems face multiple human threats, and many species are declining. The wandering albatross Diomedea exulans, black-browed albatross Thalassarche melanophris and grey-headed albatross T. chrysostoma are categorised globally as Vulnerable, Least Concern and Endangered, respectively, by the IUCN. The populations at South Georgia are listed by the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels as High Priority Populations for conservation, and to determine their current status and trends, we surveyed all breeding sites of wandering albatrosses, and ~30 % and ~73% of black-browed and grey-headed albatrosses, respectively. Comparisons with previous surveys indicated considerable variation in trends among sites and slower rates of decline from 2014/2015 to 2023/2024 than from 2003/2004 to 2014/2015: wandering albatross –0.1 vs. –1.7 % yr–1; black-browed albatross –1.1 vs. –1.8 % yr–1; grey-headed albatross: –4.1 vs. –5.0 % yr–1. Updated population estimates for South Georgia were 1278, 55 119 and 18 475 breeding pairs of wandering, black-browed and grey-headed albatrosses, comprising 13.3, 7.6 and 28.7 % of revised global totals and reflecting major declines of 39, 46 and 66 %, respectively, in just 32 to 40 yr. The main threats are bycatch in fisheries outside South Georgia waters and climate change, including the southerly shift of Antarctic krill Euphausia superba for the Thalassarche species. There are no current terrestrial threats other than highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) for wandering albatrosses. Addressing bycatch is therefore a clear management priority, which needs to overcome the main barriers of weak governance, reluctance to mandate best-practice bycatch mitigation and poor monitoring and enforcement of compliance.”

With thanks to Richard Phillips.

Reference:

Mackley, E.K., Poncet, S., Andy Black, A., Black, J., Floyd, K., Hall, R.M., Holmes, E.E., Manthorpe, S.J., Passfield, K., Bennison, A. & Phillips, R.A. 2025.  Endurance or extinction: long-term declines in albatrosses at South Georgia highlight threats from South Atlantic fisheries and climate change.  Endangered Species Research 57: 437-451.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 03 September 2025

*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.

Infographic from the publication

Leia Navarro-Herrero (Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain) and colleagues have published open access in the Journal of Applied Ecology.  “This study provides guidance for seabird conservation by identifying high-risk bycatch species and priority fishing fleets where mitigation should be targeted.  It also demonstrates the potential of environmental variables to predict seabird–fishing interactions and underscores the political responsibilities essential for effective management in Northwest African waters.”

The paper’s abstract follows:

1. Fisheries have been recognised as a significant global threat to seabird populations through overfishing and bycatch. Yet, seabird–fishing interactions remain understudied in West African waters despite rich seabird biodiversity and intensive fishing activity occurring in the region.
2. Using high-resolution tracking data of seabirds and fishing and nonfishing vessels, we investigated the dynamics of interactions between nine seabird species and industrial fisheries in Northwest African waters. We also assessed the underlying factors (seabird breeding status; fishing vessel density, gear type, length and operational status; and environmental features) influencing seabird–fishing interactions. Furthermore, we pinpointed the relevant political stakeholders in such seabird–fishing interactions by identifying the type of fisheries, vessel nation flags and maritime zones involved.
3. We found that, for each species, more than 70% of individuals encountered vessels within 30 km, with most of these encounters involving nonfishing vessels. However, Cape Verde shearwaters (Calonectris edwardsii), to a lesser extent, Cory's shearwaters (Calonectris borealis) and Audouin's gulls (Ichthyaetus audouinii) frequently approached fishing vessels within 1.5 km, exhibiting clear attending behaviour. Specifically, 66% of Cape Verde shearwaters, 27% of Cory's shearwaters and 50% of Audouin's gulls showed this close-range association with fishing vessels.
4. The probability of a seabird attending a fishing vessel was influenced by specific vessel features and environmental conditions (i.e. large vessels near the coast). Furthermore, we identified a range of flags within national waters, showing that nearly 20% of the interactions involved foreign-flagged fishing vessels from Europe, Africa, Asia and Central America.
5. Policy implications. This study provides guidance for seabird conservation by identifying high-risk bycatch species and priority fishing fleets where mitigation should be targeted. It also demonstrates the potential of environmental variables to predict seabird–fishing interactions and underscores the political responsibilities essential for effective management in Northwest African waters.

Reference:

Navarro-Herrero, L., March, D., Militão, T., Saldanha, S., Medrano, F., Vicente-Sastre, D., Ouled-Cheikh, J., Ramos, R., Matos, D., Rodrigues, I., Paiva, V.H., Granadeiro, J.P., Catry, P., Leal, A., Dinis, H.A., & González-Solís, J. 2025.  Seabird-vessel interactions in industrial fisheries of Northwest Africa: Implications for international bycatch management.  Journal of Applied Ecology DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.70139.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 02 September 2025

An Antipodean Albatross pair on Adams Island, photograph by Colin O’Donnell ONZM

Graeme Elliott ONZM (Department of Conservation, Nelson, New Zealand) and colleagues have produced a final report for the Conservation Services Programme of the New Zealand Department of Conservation that summarizes research conducted on the Gibson’s subspecies of the ACAP-listed and Endangered Antipodean Albatross Diomedea antipodensis gibsoni on Adams Island, Auckland Islands during the 2024/25 breeding season.

The report’s summary follows:

“Gibson’s wandering albatross (Diomedea antipodensis gibsoni) have been in decline since 2005.  Research into the causes of and solutions to the falling numbers of Gibson’s albatross includes an annual visit to the main breeding grounds on Adams Island and this report describes the results of the 2025 breeding season.  Breeding success in 2024 was 46%, the lowest for 8 years, with only 37 chicks produced from the study colony.  The number of pairs nesting in three representative census blocks in 2025 was close to the average of the last ten years, with the poor breeding season in 2024 probably a “blip” rather than the start of a steep decline. Survival of both males and females has improved though confidence intervals around the most recent estimates are so large the level of improvement is not yet clear.

Satellite transmitters taped to the back feathers of 29 adult Gibson’s wandering albatross in January 2022 remained attached for an average of 179 days and those attached in January 2024 to 20 adults for 251 days, providing detailed information on patterns of use of the Tasman Sea.  A combined total 10,204 days of tracking was recorded from even numbers of adult males and females, 19 of which were not-breeding and 30 of which were.  One breeding female was almost certainly caught in June 2024 in the mid Tasman Sea by a longliner flagged to Chinese Taipei.  Given the limited number of birds with transmitters and days tracked, this capture suggests an annual mortality rate of adults in fisheries interactions of 3.5% in the two years.  Sixteen Gibson’s wandering albatross chicks about to fledge from Adams Island were fitted with satellite transmitters in late December 2024 and their movements will be followed throughout 2025.

In January 2024 and January 2025 aerial photographs were taken using drones of the entire breeding grounds of Gibson’s albatross on Adams Island.  All 4,000ha of albatross nesting habitat was photographed across the two seasons, and 24% was photographed in both years. Orthomosaic images were constructed from the photos and the number of albatrosses on the ground in the orthomosaics were counted.  Ground calibration checks undertaken at the same time as the photographs were used to provide correction factors of the proportion of birds on the ground which had eggs (has-egg rate; mean was 54% in 2024 and 67% in 2025).  Another correction was made for the likely proportion of eggs not yet laid or nests that had failed at the time the photographs were taken.  This lay-fail correction was derived from regular visits to the study area. The two corrections were applied to the number of birds counted from the drone imagery on Adams Island in 2024 and 2025.  To estimate each year’s whole island number of breeding pairs, a growth-rate estimate from blocks counted both years was applied to blocks only counted in one year.  The mean of the two year’s estimates was 4,497 breeding pairs.  This is the first time since 1997 the number of breeding pairs nesting on Adams Island have been comprehensively assessed across the island.  The proportion nesting in annual count blocks in 2024 (9.2%) and 2025 (9.7%) are similar to that recorded in 1997 (10.7%), indicating that the annual count blocks remain representative of whole-island trends in nest numbers.  Compared to the ground counts undertaken in 1997, the drone-based estimates provided better coverage as drones could easily go everywhere but nesting birds couldn’t be distinguished from other birds on the ground from drone imagery.  Therefore, the number of nesting birds is estimated not counted. In contrast, counts undertaken on foot can easily miss birds either obscured by vegetation or in places that are too difficult to walk, but the number of nesting birds is counted not estimated.  It is not possible to objectively judge which method is better, but the drone estimates are easier.”

Reference:

Elliott, G., Walker, K., Rexer-Huber, K, Tinnemans, J., McDonald, A., Rawlence, T. & Parker, G. 2025.  Gibson’s Wandering Albatross: Drone-based Population Estimate, Demography and at-sea Distribution.  Report Prepared for New Zealand Department of Conservation.  33 pp.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 01 September 2025