Refuge Complex team members lay the first stretch of matting along the exterior perimeter of the predator-proof fence in the Kīlauea Point NWR, photograph from the US Fish & Wildlife Service

Biology and habitat maintenance teams have initiated an Invasive Weed Control Program in the Kīlauea Point National Wildlife Refuge on the Hawaiian island of Kauai to help manage invasive plants along the perimeter of the predator-proof fence that protects Laysan Albatrosses Phoebastria immutabilis and other breeding seabirds from feral cats and pigs, rodents and stray dogs.  The fence runs along 2.1 miles (3.4 km) of challenging terrain, making management efforts very difficult in a year-long growing climate.

“This year, teams are beginning to install matting derived from used industrial conveyor belts to help manage weed growth.  Much more durable than traditional weed matting, this recycled material will resist our harsh climate for many years, helping to keep the predator resistant fence free from vines, grass, trees and other encroachments that can reduce the efficacy of the fence – directly helping to keep our seabird populations safe from introduced mammalian predators including rats, cats, dogs and pigs”.

The work reported here fits well with this year’s theme for World Albatross Day on 19 June of “Habitat Restoration”.

Information from Wild Times, the January 2026 online newsletter of the Friends of Kauaʻi Wildlife Refuges.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 11 February 2026

The October 2025 Waved Albatross at sea off California, photograph by Stan Tekiela

A Critically Endangered Waved Albatross Phoebastria irrorata was photographed and videoed at sea on 05 October 2025 on the Cordell Bank off Sonoma and Marin counties, Northern California from a seabird-watching vessel.  This has been reported as the first record for the species north of Central America (click here).

Endangered albatross spotted in North Bay waters marks first-ever sighting north of Costa Rica”, video by Mike Carozza

What has been considered likely to be the same individual was identified from a research station at sea roughly 37 km offshore near Point Piedras Blancas, central California on 23 January 2026.  The sighting was approximately 4800 km north of the Galapagos Islands where the species breeds (click here).

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

The Southern Giant Petrel with its prominent back-mounted transmitter

Christophe Gouraud, Polar Collective Seabird Surveys, photographed a flying Southern Giant Petrel Macronectes giganteus with a back-mounted device at sea at 44°26S, 61°21W, approximately 300 km off Chubut Province, Argentina in the South Atlantic around 27 December 2025.

Close up of the transmitter with its raised solar panel, photographs by Christophe Gouraud

Following an enquiry by the SCAR Expert Group on Birds and Marine Mammals, the following information was received from Flavio Quintana.

The photographed bird is an “adult male fitted with an AXY-Trek Remote (Technosmart, Italy) on 31 December 2023, at the Isla Gran Robredo colony, Patagonia, Argentina.  The data are transmitted to a base station located on the island each time the birds visit the colony, both during breeding and non-breeding seasons.”

Flavio adds “This is a long-term project related to the spatial ecology of the species’ breeding populations in Argentina.  The project has been led by Flavio Quintana since 1998 and, over the past three years, has been carried out in collaboration with Fundación Rewilding Argentina.”

The Axy-Trek Remote is a small data logger with GPS, a tri-axial accelerometer and remote data download via UHF up to two kilometres with solar power (click here).

Information from Manuela Bassoi, Secretary, SCAR/EGBAMM.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 09 February 2026

A Scopoli’s Shearwater in the study colony, Strofades Islands, Ionian Sea, photograph by Georgios Karris

Catherine Tsangaris (Institute of Oceanography, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Anavyssos, Greece) and colleagues have published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin on biomarkers in Scopoli's Shearwater Calonectris Diomedea.

The paper’s graphic and text abstracts follow:

“Ecotoxicological biomarkers are valuable tools for assessing pollution effects in marine organisms.  This study investigates a set of biomarkers in Scopoli's shearwater (Calonectris diomedea) from a colony in the Eastern Mediterranean (Strofades Islands, Ionian Sea) and examines their association with seabird size (body mass and morphometrics), sex, life stage (breeder vs prospector), and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) concentrations in feathers.  The biomarker set included the micronucleus (MN) test as a biomarker of genotoxicity, glutathione-S-transferases (GST) as a biomarker of xenobiotic biotransformation, and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) as a biomarker of neurotoxicity.  Our results indicate that biomarker values were not influenced by life stage, sex, or size within the sampled seabird range, supporting their suitability for contaminant assessment.  Additionally, GST activity was associated with perfluoroalkane sulfonyl fluorides (PASFs) exposure, suggesting potential induction for PASFs biotransformation.  Neither MN frequency nor AChE activity was influenced by PFASs concentrations in the feathers.  To our knowledge, this is the first study on biomarkers of genotoxicity, biotransformation and neurotoxicity in Scopoli's shearwater.  Our findings provide baseline MN frequencies, GST, and AChE activities in this species at the largest species colony in the Eastern Mediterranean and highlight the need for further research across different colonies to assess geographic variations in contaminant exposure and biomarker responses.”

With thanks to George Karris Γεώργιος Καρρής.

Reference:

Tsangaris, C., Patsiou, D., Trypidaki, E., Xirouchakis, S., Zhang, J., Asimakopoulos, A.G. & Karris, G. 2026.  Ecotoxicological biomarkers in Scopoli's shearwaters (Calonectris diomedea) from an Eastern Mediterranean colony and associations with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in their feathers.  Marine Pollution Bulletin 226. doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2026.119328.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 06 February 2026