ACAP Latest News

George and Geraldine (right) on Midway Atoll during the 2024/2025 breeding season, photograph by Joe Owen

The well-known pair of Vulnerable Short-tailed Albatrosses Phoebastria albatrus are back on Midway Atoll in the North Pacific.  In late October 2026, wildlife officials confirmed that the two birds have returned for their 10th straight year as a pair on Midway’s Sand Island.

George and Geraldine were both banded as chicks on Japan’s Torishima.  They were first seen together on Midway in 2016 and raised their first chick during the 2018/19 breeding season.  The two birds have successfully raised and fledged at least five chicks, with no success in the 2024/25 season. They bred again in 2025/26, when a total of eight different individuals was recorded on the atoll, three of which were offspring of the breeding pair.

They remain the only Short-tailed Albatrosses that breed within the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, although their returning offspring may commence breeding on Midway in time.

Watch the pair mutually preening in a short video clip by USFWS volunteer Dan Rapp.

Access previous articles on George and Geraldine in ACAP Latest News here.

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

Abstract submission for the 54th Annual Pacific Seabird Group Meeting, to be held in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada from 15-19 February 2027, closes on 13 November, 2026.  Submit your abstract here.

Early-bird Registration ends on 15 December.  Register here

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

Jan van Franeker, 22 February 1954 – 27 October 2026, aboard the Polarstern in Antarctic waters, winter 2013 

“Ik blik terug op een rijk en fantastisch leven
Mijn lijf besloot niet meer verder te kunnen”

““I look back on a rich and fantastic life
My body decided it could go no further”
- Jan Andries

ACAP Latest News is saddened to learn of the passing of Dr Jan Andries van Franeker at the age of 72, a marine ornithologist who was a pioneer in the study of plastics ingested by seabirds, most notably by the Arctic or Northern Fulmaris glacialis in the North Sea.

I knew Jan through our membership of the then Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) Bird Biology Subcommittee in the 1990/2000s and his occasional visits to Cape Town to join Antarctic research ships.  The SCAR Subcommittee met in 't Horntje on the island of Texel in the Netherlands in 2004 and we then spent an enjoyable evening hosted by Jan and his family at his home on the island.

Jan van Franeker continued to co-author and publish scientific papers on his fulmars right to the present day (see ‘Male and adult northern fulmars Fulmarus glacialis are disproportionately taken as bycatch in Northeast Atlantic longline fisheries’ published in August 2026).

Jan’s long-time colleague at Wageningen Marine Research, Susanne Kühn, writes:

“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Jan van Franeker on 27 October 2026.  Jan did not like sentimental good-byes, but we would like to take this opportunity to remember his achievements throughout his career.  Those who know Jan will remember his hospitality (despite his sometimes grumpy first impression), his patience, his perseverance, and his dedication.

His work in Antarctica was the beginning of a lifelong commitment to understanding and protecting seabirds. Together with his colleagues, Jan developed the Surface and Under Ice Trawl net to follow seabirds on their foraging trips beneath the sea ice, helping to better understand their lives and feeding habits.

The discovery of plastics in the stomachs of Antarctic seabirds opened a second major chapter in his life. For half a century, Jan studied plastics in seabirds and initiated the large-scale ‘Save the North Sea’ campaign, which led to the implementation of long-term monitoring program of plastic in fulmar stomachs across the North Sea and parts of the North Atlantic Ocean. The methods he developed are now considered the standard approach to dissecting seabirds and analysing plastic in their stomach contents worldwide.

It will be no surprise to those who know him that Jan continued working on research articles he hoped to publish until his very last days. He understood the importance of sharing his knowledge. Countless researchers, policymakers, students, schoolkids and members of the general public were invited to learn why protecting the marine environment matters. Once under his wing, he proved to be a committed supervisor and a loyal friend.

Jan’s footsteps will be hard to fill, but many of us will follow his example of critical thinking, dedication, and love for seabirds and the Antarctic environment. In our work, we will often ask ourselves: ‘What would Jan do?’. His door was always open to friends and colleagues from around the world and there was always a cold beer waiting in the fridge.”

Vale, Jan.  You did your seabirds proud.

ACAP expresses its condolences to his Jan’s wife, Yvonne, their son and daughter in law Hans and Suzanne and his granddaughters.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 04 November 2026

 
First egg for the 2026/27 season

Endangered Northern Royal Albatrosses Diomedea sanfordi have commenced the 2026/27 breeding season in the mainland colony at Pukekura/Taiaroa Head on New Zealand’s South Island.  The first egg was laid on 01 November by colour-banded birds GLY and L, laying in the previous season’s Royalcam nest.  The birds were also the Royalcam pair during 2023 and have fledged four chicks.  So there is no need to move the camera.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 01 November 2026