BirdLife Malta’s EU-funded LIFE PanPuffinus! Project, now in its last year, has aimed to protect two endemic and threatened Mediterranean seabirds, the Yelkouan Shearwater Puffinus yelkouan and the ACAP-listed and Critically Endangered Balearic Shearwater P. mauretanicus, through a transboundary collaboration for joint large-scale conservation efforts.  The project has recently released a video:

“Seabird bycatch: How policy and collaboration drive change”

“Seabirds are vital to our marine ecosystems - but bycatch remains a serious threat.  In this video, José Manuel Marques (Director of Marine Environment and Sustainability Services at DGRM, Portugal), Cristina Rosa (Director of Natural Resources Services at the Directorate-General for Natural Resources, Safety and Maritime Services, DGRM, Portugal) and Adrien Lambrechts (Coordinator of the National Action Plan for the Balearic Shearwater at the French Biodiversity Agency, OFB) share how regulations, action plans, and technology are helping to tackle the challenge of bycatch.  This video was created as part of the LIFE PanPuffinus! project, which is working with fishers across the Mediterranean to trial mitigation measures and collect vital data on bycatch, while also engaging policymakers to reflect on solutions and influence change at a high level.  Through cross-border collaboration between policy makers, scientists, NGOs and fishers, the project is paving the way for lasting solutions to protect seabirds and our marine ecosystems.  LIFE PanPuffinus! is co-funded by the European Union.”

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 04 November 2025

Illustration from the  Friends of Midway Atoll

The introduction of StarLink has allowed a 24-hour live-streaming camera (“Midway Cam”) to be placed on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge by the Friends of Midway Atoll in early October to follow the breeding fortunes of the island’s Laysan Albatrosses Phoebastria immutabilis and other seabirds.  The first returning Laysan Albatrosses and Black-footed Albatrosses P. nigripes have already been spotted on the live cam.  Many Bonin Petrels Pterodroma hypoleuca can be seen after dark, as can the introduced – and unwelcome - House Mouse that still persist after a failed eradication attempt in 2023.

“Kuaihelani is the ancient Hawaiian name for Midway Atoll.  You will now be able to enjoy the full breeding cycle of the world’s largest breeding colony of Laysan (Mōlī) and black-footed (ka‘upu) albatross.  Starting in late October or early November, adult albatross will begin returning to Kuaihelani to reunite with their life-long mates.  During this time, courtship will abound with mates reuniting after their absence from the island for several months and soon thereafter copulating and building a nest for their single egg.  Mated pairs will soon settle into the exhausting effort of egg laying, incubation and then feeding their growing chicks until their eventual dispersal (fledging) to sea from late June to early August.  Soon after the mated pairs arrive and begin nesting, single, mostly younger birds arrive and spend months dancing and courting others in hopes of finding their forever mate.  Most of these birds return to the same vicinity where they were raised and will spend their lives breeding in the same neighbourhood as their parents.  You will see Laysan albatross across the viewshed and in the distance you will see scattered black-footed albatross, but you may also see at any time the endangered Laysan duck (koloa pōhaka), white terns (manu-o-Kū), Pacific golden-plovers (kolea), ruddy turnstones (ʻakekeke) and possibly overhead red-tailed tropicbirds (koaʻe ʻula) doing their magnificent aerial mating dance. After the albatross leave the island, we will reset the camera so that you may enjoy the nesting of white terns and other birds until the eventual return of the albatross. And don’t miss the evening spectacle as the Bonin petrels (nunulu) arrive by the thousands to attend to their nest sites in excavated underground burrows for most of the year.”

“To view at the highest quality: play the video, click the settings cog icon on the bottom-right of the video, then select quality 1080p”.

Kaewa reaches the Humboldt Current, illustration from the Royal Cam Community Discussion group

Over in New Zealand the “Royal Cam” at Pukekura/Taiaroa Head follows a breeding pair of globally Endangered Northern Royal Albatrosses Diomedea sanfordi each season.  The camera’s 2024/25 chick "Kaewa" has fledged and has been tracked on  a 41-day flight across the Pacific to the Chilean coast of South America via GPS with updates of its position posted to Facebook and to here.   A competition is held each year to name the Royal Cam chick.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 03 November 2025

 A bird storm of Fork-tailed Storm Petrels Hydrobates furcatus strikes the R/V Tiĝlax̂ near Kasatochi Island in 2003, photograph by Jeff Williams, USFWS

Kelly Kapsar (Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA) and colleagues have published open access in the journal Conservation Biology on seabird-vessel interaction risk, notably from light pollution in Alaskan waters.  Taxa affected included Ardenna shearwaters, Northern Fulmars Fulmarus glacialis and storm petrels.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Alaska's seascape supports globally significant seabird populations, including vulnerable and threatened species, and hosts economically important commercial fisheries and marine transportation corridors.  Seasonal patterns of seabird movements and vessel traffic create a complex landscape of risk, defined as high levels of co-occurrence (overlap) between seabirds and vessels.  Areas of high overlap increase risk of detrimental impacts, such as exposure to artificial light from ships, bycatch, behavioral disturbance, collision, and oil spills.  To investigate this risk landscape, we combined satellite-based automatic identification system (AIS) vessel traffic data (2015–2022) with at-sea, ship-based seabird observation data from the North Pacific Pelagic Seabird Database (2006–2022).  We used these data to analyze seabird–vessel overlap from June through August (summer) and September through November (fall).  Presence of both vessels and birds was highest in summer, presenting a greater overall exposure of seabirds to vessel-related impacts than in fall. This risk in both seasons was associated with vessel traffic corridors, such as Unimak Pass and the Bering Strait.  When only nighttime vessel traffic was considered, risk of disturbance or interaction was higher in fall than in summer north of ∼60° N latitude.  Across seasons, regions of highest risk varied by focal taxonomic group.  Aethia auklets were most exposed in the northern Bering and Chukchi Seas, and Ardenna shearwaters and northern fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis) were most exposed in Unimak Pass.  Overall, our findings provide an essential foundation for management decision-making to reduce risk of vessel-related injury, contamination, disturbance, displacement, and mortality for marine birds and other wildlife.  The heterogeneous distribution of risk across taxa and the persistent spatial concentration of high-risk areas together require targeted, area-based mitigation approaches for effective conservation.”

Read a popular article on the publication and view the many previous ACAP Latest News articles on light pollution affecting seabirds, both at sea and on land

Reference:

Kapsar, K., Sullender, B.K. & Kuletz, K.A. 2025.  A multiscale seasonal examination of the risk of harm to seabirds from vessels based on co-occurrence in Alaskan waters.  Conservation Biology doi.org/10.1111/cobi.70115.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 31 October 2025

 A quizzical Sooty Albatross on Marion Island

BirdLife South Africa is offering an opportunity for two suitably qualified field staff to spend a year on South Africa’s sub-Antarctic Marion Island.  The focus of these positions is to continue monitoring studies designed to support the ongoing planning for a House Mouse eradication operation by Saving Marion Island’s Seabirds: The Mouse-Free Marion Project.

Position duties will include collecting field data on mice and bait, preparations for an aerial baiting trial scheduled for April-May 2027, continued monitoring of weather parameters and, in collaboration with the University of Pretoria, contributing to the collection of baseline data on invertebrates and plants.  The successful applicants will report to the MFM Project Manager.

The deadline for applications is 21 November 2025.

Download the full position description and application details from here.  Note that preference will be given to South Africans.

A Wandering Albatross close to Marion Island, January 2025, photograph by Laurie Smaglick Johnson

The Saving Marion Island’s Seabirds: The Mouse-Free Marion Project is a registered non-profit company (No. 2020/922433/08) in South Africa, established to eradicate the invasive albatross-killing mice on Marion Island in the Southern Ocean.  The project was initiated by BirdLife South Africa and the South African Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment.  Upon successful completion, the project will restore the critical breeding habitat of over two million seabirds, many globally threatened, and improve the island’s resilience to a warming climate.  For more information or to support the project visit mousefreemarion.org.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 30 October 2025