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title: "Close up! A colour-banded Northern Royal Albatross is photographed in Chilean waters"
---

# Close up! A colour-banded Northern Royal Albatross is photographed in Chilean waters

*![555 Northern Royal Albatross from Forty fours](https://www.acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Birds/Albatrosses/N/Northern_Royal/555_Northern_Royal_Albatross_from_Forty-fours.jpg)Colour-banded**Northern Royal Albatross off Chile*

 A colour-banded Northern Royal Albatross *Diomedea sanfordi* ([Endangered](https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/northern-royal-albatross-diomedea-sanfordi)) was photographed in Chilean waters on 05 July 2026 by Claudio Véliz.  The bird was marked with plastic band black 535 and metal band R-67933 on 30 January 2022 as an adult of unknown sex by Mike Bell of [Toroa Consulting](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mike-Bell-4) in a study plot on [Motuhara](https://www.acap.aq/latest-news/recent-seabird-surveys-in-the-chatham-islands?highlight=WyJtb3R1aGFyYSJd) (The Forty Fours), Chatham Islands, New Zealand.

 *![555 Northern Royal Albatross from Forty fours close up](https://www.acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Birds/Albatrosses/N/Northern_Royal/555_Northern_Royal_Albatross_from_Forty-fours_close_up.jpg)Close up of the plastic band; the metal band is just visible on the left leg,* *p**hotographs by Claudio Véliz*

 With thanks to Dave Boyle and Claudio Véliz for information via[Pelagics. Seabirds birding worldwide](https://www.facebook.com/groups/86878741545/?__cft__%5b0%5d=AZahNbu2n9z2IPrVMmanRNe5MhpjEvXeTAnDiCp_a_mBWlzIwntOo9t_X9NYDRO6xD2JORHkQHNCLPn4vuWLu32FmzbF_OPlmNW4dv9b5WA4I_2Hd8DypRrwkosO2ock5wbnuhOiRmwLqYmAiLlONfe5&__tn__=-UC%2CP-R).

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