--- title: "Featuring ACAP-listed species and their photographers: the Laysan Albatross by Hob Osterlund" --- # Featuring ACAP-listed species and their photographers: the Laysan Albatross by Hob Osterlund ![LAALSnuggleSweet2](https://www.acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Birds/Albatrosses/L/Laysan/LAALSnuggleSweet2.JPG) *A Laysan Albatross pair on Kauai* Author and photographer[Hob Osterlund](https://www.acap.aq/en/news/latest-news/2523-book-review-holy-moli-a-personal-journey-with-albatrosses?highlight=WyJvc3Rlcmx1bmQiLCJvc3Rlcmx1bmQncyJd) is a resident of the Hawaiian island of Kauai, the founder of the [Kauai Albatross Network](http://www.albatrosskauai.org/wp/) and a [Fellow](https://www.safinacenter.org/abouthob)of the [Safina Center](http://safinacenter.org).  She is also a valued supporter of the Albatross and Petrel Agreement, assiduously helping *ACAP Latest News* with her photographs and information on interesting stories to post.  Fitting then for Hob and her compelling photos of globally [Near Threatened](http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/laysan-albatross-phoebastria-immutabilis) Laysan Albatrosses *Phoebastria immutabilis*to be the second in a new occasional series that features photographs of the 31 ACAP-listed species, along with information on their photographers. * ![Hob Osterlund](https://www.acap.aq/images/stories/acap/People/Hob_Osterlund.jpg)* *Hob Osterlund with some of her photographic subjects* Hob Osterlund writes to *ACAP Latest News*: “Many years ago when I was a student at [Cal-Berkeley](https://www.berkeley.edu/), I declared an individual major called “Ecological Geography.” My focus allowed me to take a wide range of courses, including topics related to wildlife biology and ornithology.  For my senior thesis I spent a summer backpacking in the Sierra Nevada range in California, specifically at a place called [Mineral King](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineral_King).  At the time the Disney folks were hoping to build a ski resort there, so my topic was describing the negative impact on wildlife such a resort would have.  Entirely unrelated to my thesis, the resort was never built [the site now falls within the [Sequoia National Park](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequoia_National_Park)].  But that summer inspired my activism, my commitment and my photography.  My devotion to the craft grew deeper in the late 1970s when I happened upon a few Laysan Albatrosses (Mōlī) on the north shore of Kauaʻi.  At the time I had no idea they had only recently attempted nesting on the island after perhaps a thousand years’ absence. ![LAALKK1WeekOld](https://www.acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Birds/Albatrosses/L/Laysan/LAALKK1WeekOld.jpg) *A Laysan Albatross guards its week-old downy chick* “As it happens, I am a sixth-generation resident of Hawaiʻi.  Back in the mid-20th century, Martha Warren Beckwith, my grandmother’s cousin, wrote a (still-in-print) book called [*Hawaiian Mythology*](https://uhpress.hawaii.edu/title/hawaiian-mythology/).  It was in that volume that I learned about the Hawaiian concept of [*ʻaumakua*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aumakua)*,*which can be interpreted as meaning an ancestor who appears in the form of an animal; an ancestor who protects and warns and advises.  Such was the kind of connection I felt to the Mōlī here, I began volunteering at the [Kīlauea Point National Wildlife Refuge](https://www.acap.aq/latest-news/1654-acap-breeding-site-no-63-kilauea-point-national-wildlife-refuge-home-of-a-laysan-albatross-population), and at one point the inestimable Beth Flint, PhD, lead a two-day course on how to band Mōlī.  The [USFWS](https://www.fws.gov/) concept was to have a small team of volunteers who could monitor albatross nesting on private lands.  One morning when we were in the field, Beth suggested I start a volunteer organization for Mōlī advocacy.  Ever obedient to Beth’s wisdom, I founded the [Kauai Albatross Network](http://www.albatrosskauai.org/wp/) not long after that.  I already knew some private landowners with mōlī on their properties, so I started there."At that time I was working as a Clinical Nurse Specialist/ Nurse Manager at [The Queenʻs Medical Center](https://www.queens.org/the-queens-medical-center/queens-medical-center) in Honolulu, and ran a Pain and Palliative Care Department.  One of my passions in that role was to translate the language of science into a language non-medical people could understand.  That passion followed me into albatross advocacy, so I started using social media to share tidbits of the birds’ stories.  And of course, the better the photo, the better the story.  In 2013 I contacted [Cornell Lab of Ornithology](https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/), and in 2014 we launched the “TrossCam” which ended up live streaming the lives of several albatross chicks from hatch to fledge for five seasons.  During that time I also wrote [*Holy Mōlī: Albatross and Other Ancestors*](https://osupress.oregonstate.edu/book/holy-m%C5%8Dl%C4%AB) (Oregon State University Press, 2016, 4th printing, [read *ACAP Latest News’* [review](https://www.acap.aq/news/latest-news/2523-book-review-holy-moli-a-personal-journey-with-albatrosses?highlight=WyJob2x5IiwibVx1MDE0ZGxcdTAxMmIiLCJtXHUwMTRkbFx1MDEyYidzIiwiaG9seSBtb2xpIl0=)]), and was able to include more than 20 of my photos.  From there I made a brief foray into filmmaking, and [Kalamaʻs Journey](https://vimeo.com/297216910) was the result, winning a [Telly Award](https://www.acap.aq/latest-news/3306-a-film-about-a-laysan-albatross-wins-a-telly-award?highlight=WyJ0ZWxseSIsImF3YXJkIiwiYXdhcmQnIiwidGVsbHkgYXdhcmQiXQ==) in 2018. ![LAALChickTalks](https://www.acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Birds/Albatrosses/L/Laysan/LAALChickTalks.JPG) *A conversation is occuring ...* "What’s next?  I was asked by [Friends of Kīlauea Wildlife Refuges](https://www.facebook.com/FKWRKauai) to put together a book called *Birds of Kilauea Point.*  The book was essentially complete in 2020 when COVID-19 hit, and publication will be delayed until we can find a new publisher.  In the meantime, what brings me back to photography every day is the detail I can see through my lens that I cannot see with my naked eye.  Many bird behaviours happen quickly.  When I’m shooting a few frames per second, my brain cannot comprehend all that is going on.  When I look at the images later, it’s very common for me to be surprised by something funny, illustrative or glorious.  I take photos because I love doing it, and because I want to share what I discover.” ![LAALChickSoaked](https://www.acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Birds/Albatrosses/L/Laysan/LAALChickSoaked.jpg) *A Laysan Albatross chick gets soaked by rain* ![LAALChickStarsMouth](https://www.acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Birds/Albatrosses/L/Laysan/LAALChickStarsMouth.jpg) *A Laysan Albatross chick about to be fed* For more information produced by ACAP on the Laysan Albatross download a detailed [Species Assessment](https://www.acap.aq/resources/acap-species) and an illustrated [Species Summary](https://www.acap.aq/world-albatross-day/species-summaries). [First in this series](https://www.acap.aq/latest-news/4124-featuring-acap-listed-species-and-their-photographers-the-waved-albatross-by-ken-logan) is the globally [Critically Endangered](http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=3955) Waved Albatross *Phoebastria irrorata* by Ken Logan. With thanks to Hob Osterlund. *John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 11 August 2021*