A previously banded female Waved Albatross incubates an egg near a decoy, photograph by Enzo Reyes

Dr. Enzo Reyes, Coordinator of the Social Attraction Project on Isla de La Plata off the mainland coast of Ecuador, has written to ACAP Latest News with an update on the attempt to increase the numbers of Critically Endangered Waved Albatrosses Phoebastria irrorata breeding on the island.

“At least two pairs of Waved Albatrosses are currently incubating eggs within the colony, [the] same individuals previously banded by the project team during last year’s field season.  We have not yet detected any new individuals being attracted by the social attraction system,”

“One individual was observed resting beside a pair of standing decoys.  It stood up and moved away when researchers approached to read the bird’s colour band.  An encouraging sign that the birds are responding to the presence of the decoys as if they were real conspecifics”, photograph by Enzo Reyes

Dr. Reyes continues: “we remain very optimistic, as the system has only been operational for a few months.  A promising sign is that some albatrosses are starting to interact with the visual decoys.  One individual was observed resting next to two decoys, which suggests the setup is drawing attention.  These early signs indicate that the project is progressing in the right direction, and continued monitoring will be essential to assess the long-term success of the attraction strategy in reestablishing breeding activity in this historic colony.”

Social attraction using decoys has been used for several other albatross species, including Short- tailed P. albatrus by Japan (Torishima and Mukojima) and the USA (Kure and Midway Atolls), Black-footed P. nigripes by Mexico (Isla Guadalupe) and the USA (Oahu, Hawaii) and for the Vulnerable Chatham Albatross Thalassarche impavida by New Zealand (Chatham Island).

What other localities lend themselves to use of decoys and/or sound broadcast systems to establish new or reestablish breeding colonies for albatrosses?  The environmental NGO Pacific Rim Conservation has had a first look at the Channel Islands (Santa Barbara and San Nicolas) off California, USA for establishing new Black-footed and Laysan P immutabilis Albatross colonies.  The inhabited island of Tristan da Cunha where Critically Endangered Tristan Albatrosses Diomedea dabbenena used to breed and very occasionally still visit is a possibility.  Only two to three breeding pairs of Tristan Albatrosses linger on the Tristan group’s little visited Inaccessible Island, where placement of decoys might help the species re-establish a colony that was once at least a 100 pairs.

ACAP Latest News will be pleased to hear of any other existing, tried, planned or possible social attraction projects by use of decoys or other methods for any of the world’s threatened albatrosses.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 09 July 2025

Short-tailed Shearwater off North Cape,New Zealand, photograph by Kirk Zufelt

Harrison Talarico (Biological Sciences, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia) and colleagues have published open access in the journal Avian Conservation and Ecology on  detecting the presence of Short-tailed Shearwaters Ardenna tenuirostris with acoustic recording units.

The paper’s reference follows:

“The migratory timings of many seabirds are shifting because of climate change, and viable methods to quantify these patterns are required. Using acoustic recording units (ARUs) to detect vocalizations can be effective in monitoring seabird migration. Specifically, ARUs can help detect the arrival dates of seabirds and assess the impact of environmental changes. However, processing large volumes of acoustic data can be challenging, particularly in seabird colonies where overlapping vocalizations and non-target noise are prevalent. Acoustic indices may mitigate some methodological challenges associated with processing acoustic data from colonies as they are fully automated and easy to use for researchers with limited experience in bioacoustics. However, little is known about the efficacy of acoustic indices in quantifying the arrival dates of seabirds. Short-tailed Shearwaters (Ardenna tenuirostris) are ecologically and culturally important migratory birds. Their late arrival to breeding areas in Tasmania in recent years created a need for efficient monitoring. This study aimed to explore the use of acoustic indices in identifying the timing of post-migratory return to their colonies in southeastern Tasmania. Five nightly subsamples were taken from recordings over three to four weeks at nine nesting sites, which spanned the period around the normal arrival time of the birds. The samples were manually tagged for vocalizations and other biotic and abiotic sounds. We used two acoustic indices (ACI and NDSI; applied to both raw data and data filtered using a novel wind-filter) to detect change points in number of vocalizations, as a proxy for arrival dates. By using a combination of the NDSI on raw data and ACI on wind-filtered data, we were able to detect the arrival of Short-tailed Shearwaters at seven of the nine study sites.”

Reference:

Talarico, H.R.,  Jordan, G.J., Woehler, E.J., Hamer, R. & Lavers, J.L. 2025. The efficacy of acoustic indices in detecting the post-migration return of Short-tailed Shearwaters (Ardenna tenuirostris) to their colonies. Avian Conservation and Ecology 20(1):26. doi.org/10.5751.

Rupert Summerson plays his shakuhachi (Japanese flute) on a hill overlooking Ushuaia and the Beagle Channel with Navarino and Hoste Islands in the distance

Rupert Summerson has offered a contribution to mark World Albatross Day on 19 June this year: The Wanderer – music composed from the genetic code of the Vulnerable Wandering Albatross Diomedea exulans.

Rupert writes to ACAP Latest News that he and CJ Symon arranged a segment of genetic code, kindly provided by Andrea Polanowski and Leonie Suter at the Australian Antarctic Division, into music, while remaining faithful to the genetic sequence.  “Three of the four letters of the genetic code of all creatures (C, A & G) are musical notes.  We converted T, the fourth letter, into F by simply running up the alphabet counting from A to G until we reached T.  I am playing a 2.0 shakuhachi, the lowest note of which is C.”

There are two versions

1. Lisa Roberts has kindly added an animation to the music which you can watch – and listen to here:

2. The music-only version can be accessed here.

Australian Antarctic Program scientists have used DNA technology to help identify threatened albatross species caught unintentionally (as 'bycatch') during longline fishing operations in Australian waters. We’ve identified a combination of DNA ‘markers’ that target species-specific sections of seabird genomes, to enable molecular identification of the majority of dead bycaught seabirds, from poor quality feather samples (click here).

Rupert writes on 19 June: “Today is the day to think about the plight of the albatross.  Knowledge is powerful but action is better. Please consider what you can do to improve the prospects of their survival.”

With thanks to Rupert Summerson.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 07 July 2025

 Christine Bogle and Jonathon Barrington, third and fourth Executive Secretaries, in ACAP's offices in Hobart, Tasmania at a farewell function, 02 July 2025, photograph by Thomas Bogle

On 1 July, Jonathon Barrington took over the role of ACAP Executive Secretary from Christine Bogle, the third person to hold the position. Jonathon, the fourth Executive Secretary, is a Tasmanian resident well known to ACAP as Australia’s Representative to sessions of the Meeting of the Parties and meetings of the Advisory Committee over many years. Prior to moving to ACAP, he was a Senior Policy Adviser working in the field of seabird conservation at the Australian Antarctic Division, which he had joined in 2004.  Jonathon is a graduate of the University of Western Australia, University of Tasmania and Australian National University with qualifications in science, fisheries, business and law.

“I am delighted to be selected to this important position and am very much looking forward to working with and for the ACAP Parties over the coming triennium in implementing the strategies, programmes and initiatives agreed to at the recent Eighth Session of the Meeting of the Parties,” said Jonathon Barrington on commencing work at the ACAP Secretariat.

On her departure from ACAP, Christine has written to the ACAP community:

“It has been a wonderful experience to work with you all over the past six and a half years.  It is heart-warming that we are all dedicated to the same worthy cause – the conservation of albatrosses and petrels.”

She continues:

“Travelling the world and working in three languages has been a welcome bonus (and please forgive me for many language errors).  I am sure I will continue my peripatetic existence (I shall be staying in Hobart until October, and then returning to Wellington, New Zealand, but I won’t be stopping my international travel, with a visit to South America and Antarctica planned for November).  I hope that I will meet up with some of you again, someday, somewhere.  Wishing you all the best for future endeavours.”

The ACAP community in turn offers its thanks and best wishes to Christine and welcomes Jonathon to his new role as the ACAP Executive Secretary.

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