Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) has reached the Australian mainland.  At least four giant petrels Macronectes spp. and a Brown or Subantarctic Skua Catharacta antarctica found dead on Australian beaches in Western Australia, South Australia and New South Wales in late June/early July 2026 have tested positive for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza.  These are the first cases of the highly infectious disease being recorded on the Australian mainland – and is leading to great concern in Australia (and in New Zealand), as reflected by the large amount of growing media coverage.

One of the first giant petrels tested positive for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza on the Australian mainland, Wylie Bay beach, Western Australia, 18 June 2026.  Photograph by Lori-Ann Shibish/Esperance Wildlife Hospital and Sanctuary (click here)

Cases of HPAI have been recorded from nearly all the seabird islands in the South Atlantic and southern Indian Oceans, including Australia’s Heard Island, as has been reported regularly by ACAP Latest News.  The disease has not yet been reported from sub-Antarctic islands in the southern Pacific – Australia’s Macquarie, and the five island groups south of New Zealand – or on the New Zealand mainland.

A Southern Giant Petrel M. giganteus diagnosed with HPAI, Knights Beach, Port Elliott, South Australia, 14 June 2026, photograph from Wildlife Welfare Organisation (click here)

Latest:  “As of 3pm AEST, 10 July 2026, Australia has 12 confirmed (or presumed) detections of H5 bird flu in wild [sea]birds.  There are six confirmed in Western Australia (WA), five in South Australia (SA) and one in New South Wales (NSW)”.

This is a developing story.  ALN will continue to report on the seemingly inevitable spread of HPAI around the Southern Ocean.

For a still serious account of the situation in Australia with the arrival of HPAI view the First Dog on the Moon's cartoon of 06 July 2026.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 10 July 2026

“Jiff” the Wandering Albatross modelu, held (from left) by Sarah-Lena Reinhold, Gemma Rushton and Karina Sorrel, photograph from Karina Sorrel

To celebrate World Albatross Day on sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island this year on 19 June, Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service rangers Karina Sorrel and Gemma Rushton, together with Australian Antarctic Division wildlife biologist Sarah-Lena Reinhold, created a life-sized Wandering Albatross Diomedea exulans (Vulnerable).

The Wandering Albatross model presides above the table set for midwinter, photograph by Ben Callahan

“This became the centrepiece for an immersive experience in which expeditioners had to find their mate and perform a courtship dance – a very humorous sight.  The albatross, later christened “Jiff” by popular vote, was hung in the station mess, where it doubled as the centrepiece decoration for the Midwinter dinner.  Jiff was then ceremoniously burnt following the midwinter festivities, bringing the celebrations to a close.”

Jiff gets burnt on the “barbie”, photograph by Ben Callahan

“Macquarie Island provides critical breeding habitat for Australia’s extremely small Wandering Albatross population.  This year, there are four Wandering Albatross chicks on the island.  The nests are all located in very remote and spectacular locations in the rugged south‑west corner of the island.  The chicks hatched at the start of the year and will live at their nest alone, including through the sub‑Antarctic winter, until it is time to fledge at the end of the year.  Remote cameras are located at each nest to non-invasively monitor the breeding ecology of the birds.”

All alone: one for the four Wandering Albatross chicks on Macquarie Island this year, photograph by Gemma Rushton

“The successful eradication of rabbits, rats and mice from Macquarie Island (the Macquarie Island Pest Eradication Project, declared a success in 2014) has helped restore the quality of albatross breeding habitat, most evident through the recovery of tussock vegetation.  The removal of these invasive pests means there is no risk of them having an ongoing impact on breeding birds and chicks.

In addition to Wandering Albatross, Macquarie Island Nature Reserve and World Heritage Area is home to three other albatross species (Light-mantled, Black-browed, and Grey-headed Albatross) and many petrel species.  The conservation of these species is of Tasmanian, Australian, and international significance.”

Information taken from This week at Macquarie Island: 26 June 2026.

With thanks to Mandi Livesey, Australian Antarctic Division.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 08 July 2026

New Zealander Keith Springer on a sub-Antarctic island

Keith Springer, Operations Manager for the Saving Marion Island’s Seabirds: the Mouse-Free Marion (MFM) Project, gave a talk entitled “Habitat Restoration on Islands in the Southern Ocean” in a webinar organized by BirdLife Australia to mark World Albatross Day with its theme of “Habitat Restoration” on 19 June 2026.

With a career that had its early days with New Zealand’s Department of Conservation, Antarctica New Zealand and the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service, Keith has considerable experience in island eradication operations.  He led the successful (and award-winning) operation to eradicate European Rabbits, Black Rats and House Mice from Australia’s Macquarie Island, was part of the South Georgia Heritage Trust’s Habitat Restoration Project team that successfully eradicated Brown Rats and House Mice from South Georgia and has served as an advisor on many other rodent-eradication projects.  These have included being Operational Advisor and Safety Officer to the successful “Million Dollar Mouse” eradication on Antipodes Island and Operations Planner for the Gough Island Restoration Programme that aimed to eradicate that island’s mice (but unfortunately was not successful).

His presentation is now available for free viewing via YouTube.

“Join BirdLife Australia for World Albatross Day and explore how habitat restoration is helping threatened seabird populations recover. This webinar will highlight practical conservation action on breeding islands, from managing invasive vertebrate pests in the Southern Ocean to planning restoration at Gabo Island, Victoria.  Featuring Mr Keith Springer and Dr Yuna Kim, the session will share real-world examples of how healthier nesting habitats can improve breeding success for albatrosses and other seabirds, and why long-term restoration is essential for seabird conservation”

Keith’s presentation was followed by one by Yuna Kim, Birdlife Australia’s Seabird Project Coordinator on plans to restore Gabo Island, a 154-ha island off the coast of eastern Victoria, Australia.

Yuna Kim on Cabbage Tree Island, New South Wales, Australia, where she studied the Vulnerable White-winged or Gould’s Petrel Pterodroma leucoptera for her PhD, awarded in 2015

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 08 July 2026

Releasing a rehabilitated Newell’s Shearwater in 2018, photograph by Andre Raine

Craig Harrison (Santa Rosa, California, USA) has published in the open-access journal Marine Ornithology on work conducted by the Pacific Seabird Group over four decades to improve the conservation status of seabirds, including Critically Endangered Newell's Shearwater Puffinus newelli, and by eradicating introduced mammalian predators on seabird islands in the Pacific Ocean.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“The Pacific Seabird Group (PSG), founded in 1972, is “dedicated to the study and conservation of Pacific seabirds and their environment.” During its first 40 years, PSG undertook scores of conservation actions, although as an all-volunteer organization, PSG lacked the capacity to implement many programs or projects. It achieved its conservation goals through leadership, raising issues, bringing the best science to decision makers, and serving as a catalyst for others to act. PSG has been especially influential in six areas: (1) eradicating invasive alien animals from seabird colonies; (2) conserving Marbled Murrelets Brachyramphus marmoratus; (3) protecting seabird colonies in western Mexico; (4) promoting the wise use of oil spill recovery funds; (5) conserving Newell's Shearwaters Puffinus newelli; and (6) protecting many terrestrial and marine environments important to seabirds.”

Reference:

Harrison, C.S. 2026.  Conserving seabirds: actions of the Pacific Seabird Group during its first 40 years.  Marine Ornithology 54: 189-214.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 07 July 2026