Satellite image of the typhoon approaching mainland Japan, 8 September 2019, from the publication.  Provided by the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology

Kozue Shiomi (Frontier Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan) reports open access in the journal Ecology on a rare case that implies the upper limit of a seabird’s capacity to tolerate a storm.  A GPS-equipped Streaked Shearwater Calonectris leucomelas (Near Threatened) was caught in and survived a huge typhoon, showing swirling flight high (up to 4.7 km altitude) at speeds of 80-170 km/h for 11 hours over the mainland of Japan.

A Streaked Shearwater in its more normal habitat, close to the sea’s surface

The paper concludes:

“The present study appears to demonstrate an example of the behavior of seabirds at the extreme edge between failure and success of survival during a storm.  Further accumulation of such data would contribute toward an understanding of whether and how seabirds manage to survive frequent but irregular weather events.”

Read a popular account of the shearwater’s ordeal here.

Reference:

Shiomi, K. 2023. Swirling flight of a seabird caught in a huge typhoon high over mainland Japan.  Ecology 104 doi.org/10.1002/ecy.4161.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 13 February 2024

ACAP Executive Secretary, Dr Christine Bogle, with the five translation students on an outing in Hobart during their week-long internship program
(L-R) Angelica Maria Baquero Manrique, Ying Dong, Christine Bogle, Luna (Hyunkyung) Kim, Seah Yim and Linda (Qiyue) Jian

The ACAP Secretariat was once again delighted to welcome translation students to its annual internship programme in early January this year. Five translation students from Australian universities spent a week at ACAP Headquarters in Hobart putting their translation skills to the test.

ACAP normally hosts students completing their Master’s in one of ACAP’s three official languages - English, French and Spanish. However, in a first for the Agreement, this year the Secretariat hosted non-ACAP language students, with four of the five students specialising in Korean and Mandarin translation. This year’s cohort were: Ying Dong and Linda (Qiyue) Jian who specialise in Mandarin and English translation, Seah Yim and Luna (Hyunkyung) Kim in Korean and English, and Angelica Maria Baquero Manrique in Spanish and English. 

The students spent the week carefully translating technical reports, and web pages into the three languages, with the Secretariat quick to capitalise on the opportunity to have the Agreement’s Best Practice Advice on seabird bycatch mitigation measures translated into Mandarin (simplified) and Korean. To have the advice available in Mandarin and Korean is a positive step in ACAP’s ability to raise awareness of the mitigation measures in two countries with significant fishing fleets.

Linda Jian is studying for her Master of Translation and Interpreting at the University of NSW, specialising in Mandarin and English translation. Her interest in pursuing a Master’s came from a desire to gain a deeper understanding of language, especially the nuances in the word choice, and what is unsaid (pacing, pauses, tone and body language etc.). When asked what she enjoys about translation she said: “The opportunity and time to pore over the sentences and curate word choices in another language.”

Cultivating understanding between people and cultures was a common theme between the students when asked about their interest in the profession. Angelica Maria Baquero Manrique is a student in the Master of Translation and Interpreting Studies program at Macquarie University, and her focus is Spanish and English translation. Angela’s interest in obtaining a Masters came from her years of experience working in the field. She said: “Translation, for me, is not just a profession, it's a rewarding journey that involves helping individuals convey their knowledge to a broader audience. I find great satisfaction in facilitating the transfer of information between languages and cultures. It's a way to bridge gaps and foster understanding,”.

Reflecting on the week, Dr. Christine Bogle, ACAP's Executive Secretary, emphasised the immense value the students bring to ACAP through the internship programme, stating: "The assistance from the students is truly invaluable for ACAP, especially this year as ACAP’s Best Practice Advice for seabird bycatch mitigation was translated into Mandarin and Korean. Hosting the students is always a delight, and we are grateful for their contributions year after year."

12 February 2024

Figure 1 from the paper: Map of the California Channel Islands. The continental shelf is indicated by the blue shading of the bathymetry. Inset B shows the location along the west coast of North America.

Eric VanderWerf (Pacific Rim Conservation, Hawaii, United States) and colleagues have published in the journal Frontiers in Conservation Science an assessment on the feasibility of the Channel Islands, located off the coast of California, as a future site for establishing breeding colonies of Laysan and Black-footed Albatrosses.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Laysan (Phoebastria immutabilis) and Black-footed Albatrosses (P. nigripes) nest primarily on low-lying atolls in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands that are threatened by inundation from sea level rise and increasing storm surge associated with climate change. Restoration or creation of breeding colonies on higher islands is among the highest priority conservation actions for these species. A previous structured decision-making analysis identified the California Channel Islands as a possible restoration site for Black-footed Albatross. The California Current is part of the natural foraging ranges of Laysan and Black- footed albatrosses. Archaeological evidence indicates both species were present in the California Channel Islands prehistorically, yet neither currently nests in the Channel Islands. We assessed the feasibility of creating albatross breeding colonies in the Channel Islands using social attraction and translocation, and the suitability of each island. We used a risk analysis framework developed for the U.S. National Park Service to evaluate the potential ecological risks of this action. Creating an albatross colony in the Channel Islands is feasible using available methods. Santa Barbara and San Nicolas islands would be most suitable for albatross. Social attraction is less expensive and might be effective for creating a Laysan Albatross colony because that species is already visiting some islands. Translocation would be necessary to create a Black-footed Albatross colony. The risks associated with attempting to establish albatross breeding colonies in the Channel Islands were deemed to be generally low, but the risk of no action is high to these albatrosses. This can be a useful assisted colonization case study that can inform decisions by land managers and agencies regarding conservation of North Pacific albatrosses and other species.”

Reference:

VanderWerf, E.A., Holmes N.D., Morrison S.A., Kohley C.R., Wegmann A. and Young  L.C. (2024). Assisted colonization of albatrosses in the California Channel Islands: conservation basis and suitability assessment. Front. Conserv. Sci. 4:1279373. doi: 10.3389/fcosc.2023.1279373

9 February 2024

The schematic illustrates the analysis approach.  The microbarom soundscape is represented by coloured contours; the bird’s track is shown from the Crozet Islands, see the paper’s Figure 1 for a full explanation

Natasha Gillies (School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom) and colleagues have published in the online journal PNAS on GPS-tracked  Vulnerable Wandering Albatrosses Diomedea exulans at sea preferentially moving toward regions of ‘loud’ infrasound.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“The ways in which seabirds navigate over very large spatial scales remain poorly understood. While olfactory and visual information can provide guidance over short distances, their range is often limited to 100s km, far below the navigational capacity of wide-ranging animals such as albatrosses. Infrasound is a form of low-frequency sound that propagates for 1,000s km in the atmosphere. In marine habitats, its association with storms and ocean surface waves could in effect make it a useful cue for anticipating environmental conditions that favor or hinder flight or be associated with profitable foraging patches. However, behavioral responses of wild birds to infrasound remain untested. Here, we explored whether wandering albatrosses, Diomedea exulans, respond to microbarom infrasound at sea. We used Global Positioning System tracks of 89 free-ranging albatrosses in combination with acoustic modeling to investigate whether albatrosses preferentially orientate toward areas of ‘loud’ microbarom infrasound on their foraging trips. We found that in addition to responding to winds encountered in situ, albatrosses moved toward source regions associated with higher sound pressure levels. These findings suggest that albatrosses may be responding to long-range infrasonic cues. As albatrosses depend on winds and waves for soaring flight, infrasonic cues may help albatrosses to identify environmental conditions that allow them to energetically optimize flight over long distances. Our results shed light on one of the great unresolved mysteries in nature, navigation in seemingly featureless ocean environments.”

A  Wandering Albatross in the Drake Passage, photograph by Kirk Zufelt

Read a commentary in PNAS by Lesley Thorne here and a popular account by study co-author Samantha Patrick here.

Reference:

Gillies, N., Martín López, L.M. & Patrick, S.C. 2023.  Albatross movement suggests sensitivity to infrasound cues at sea.  PNAS doi.org/10.1073/pnas.221867912.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 08 February 2024