---
title: "A Black-browed Albatross survives ingesting an orange balloon – and gets to fly again"
---

# A Black-browed Albatross survives ingesting an orange balloon – and gets to fly again

*![Orange balloon juv BBA 2](https://www.acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Birds/Albatrosses/B/Black_browed/Orange_balloon_juv_BBA_2.jpg)“A* *piece of plastic wrapper and part of an orange balloon” removed from the juvenile Black-browed Albatross, photograph from the Wellington Zoo Te Nukuao*

 In April this year a juvenile [Black-browed Albatross](http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/22698375) *Thalassarche melanophris* was found in poor condition near New Zealand’s Wellington Airport and taken to The Nest Te Kōhanga, Wellington Zoo’s animal hospital, as reported on the Zoo’s [Facebook Page](https://www.facebook.com/WgtnZoo).

 “The juvenile albatross was very weak, and our vets put him on pain relief, fluids, and a diet of fish slurry.  Blood tests came back normal, and the albatross was put under general anaesthetic so our vet team could take a full set of X-rays.  To check whether this albatross had any plastic in his stomach, our vets performed an endoscopy, sending a camera down his throat to look around his gut.”  A piece of plastic wrapper and part of an orange balloon were then removed from its stomach.

 *![Orange balloon juv BBA 1](https://www.acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Birds/Albatrosses/B/Black_browed/Orange_balloon_juv_BBA_1.jpg)   
Performing the endoscopy, photograph from the Wellington Zoo Te Nukuao*

 In mid-May a team from The Nest Te Kōhanga took a boat ride out to the middle of the Cook Strait to release the recovered Black-browed Albatross at sea.  Watch a video of its release [here](https://www.facebook.com/WgtnZoo/videos/1431201007524288).

 Access earlier articles in *ACAP Latest News* of balloons ingested by ACAP-listed albatrosses and petrels [here](https://www.acap.aq/search?q=balloon&w1=before&w2=before). "[Plastic Pollution](https://www.acap.aq/world-albatross-day/wad2023-plastic-pollution)" was ACAP's theme for World Albatross Day on 19 June 2023.

 *John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 28 May 2024*