An Antipodean Albatross breeding pair on Antipodes Island, photograph by Erica Sommer

Kalinka Rexer-Huber (Parker Conservation, Dunedin, New Zealand) and colleagues have produced a final report for the Conservation Services Programme of the New Zealand Department of Conservation that details research carried out on Endangered Antipodean Albatrosses Diomedea a. antipodensis and Vulnerable White-chinned Petrels Procellaria aequinoctialis on Antipodes Island during then 2024/25 austral summer.

The report’s summary follows:

“The Antipodean wandering albatross Diomedea antipodensis antipodensis has been in decline since a population crash in 2005–07.  Declining numbers appear to have been largely driven by high female mortality, but low chick production—with fewer birds breeding and reduced breeding success—has compounded the problem.  To tease out the causes of falling numbers of Antipodean wandering albatrosses and identify the effectiveness of potential solutions, research includes an annual visit to the breeding grounds on Antipodes Island.  Alongside this core annual study, we present results from a whole-island survey to estimate the size of the Antipodean albatross population nesting island-wide.  Alongside the albatross research, we are developing a mark-recapture study for white-chinned petrels.  This report describes the results of the annual field programme in the 2024/25 breeding season for both Antipodean albatrosses and white-chinned petrels.

Antipodean wandering albatross. The core annual study involves mark-recapture in an intensively monitored study area and census of the annual count areas.  This season’s field programme allowed updates to the trend in nesting population size, survival, productivity and recruitment.  There are some signs that rates of decline are slowing; for example, the population of breeding pairs was declining at -5.2% per annum (2008–2013), which has slowed to a -1.5% decline in the last decade 2014–2023. The number of Antipodean wandering albatrosses breeding has been roughly stable for the past four seasons, and female survival improved 2010–2019 to approach male survival rates.  Female survival has reached 91.2% (most  recent 4-year average), but this is still lower than for males (92.6%) and remains lower than females’ pre-crash average of 95.9%.  Breeding success in 2024 at 68% approached the average pre-crash nesting success of 74%, although the mean 2006–2024 rate remains comparatively low at 63%.  However, the actual number of chicks produced remains small, even in years with good breeding success, since numbers nesting remains low.  Recruitment is starting to draw from the (much smaller) cohorts produced since the crash, so population numbers will soon no longer be supplemented by higher recruitment rates seen over the past decade.

The last whole-island count of nesting Antipodean albatross took place 1994–96.  To update the whole-island estimate, we built on last year’s effort which combined ground counts and drone aerial photography producing orthomosaics of 77% of the Antipodean albatross breeding habitat.  This season drones were used to obtain photographs of the entire Antipodean albatross breeding habitat on Antipodes Island.  Orthomosaic images were constructed from the photos and the number of albatrosses counted and corrected for pretend-nesters (apparently-nesting birds with no egg) using data from nest-content checks conducted during drone overflight (has-egg rate).  A second correction used the proportion of eggs not yet laid or nests that had failed at the time the photographs were taken (lay-fail rate), using data from regular visits to the study area.  Just 1% of the 1546-ha Antipodean albatross breeding range was not overflown in 2025. Numbers in these unphotographed 22 ha were estimated by categorising nesting-habitat quality across the island, then extrapolating nest densities by habitat-quality class to the unphotographed areas.  The number nesting island-wide in 2025 estimated from drone counts (3,546±254 breeding pairs) and the 3,383±201 annual breeding pairs in 2024 provide two successive estimates that together account for biennial breeding and resulting year-on-year differences.  This is the first time since 1996 that the number of breeding pairs nesting on Antipodes Island have been comprehensively assessed across the island.  The proportion nesting in annual count blocks in 2024 (14%) and 2025 (14.7%) are similar to that recorded 1994–96 (14.9%), indicating that the annual count blocks remain representative of whole-island trends in nest numbers.

Trends in nest numbers and demographic parameters from the c ore annual study indicate that the population has been approximately stable for the last four years.  However, there is so far no evidence of any sustained improvement in Antipodean wandering albatross demography, as required for the population to recover, with tentative improvements recorded here merely slowing the decline.  Recommendations include ongoing mark-recapture monitoring of demographic and population-size trends, and research into causes of declines.  More-targeted ongoing engagement with fishers is also needed to achieve better bycatch mitigation in line with ACAP best practice.

White-chinned petrel.  A mark-recapture study to estimate vital rates, survival in particular, was established in the 2022–23 season.  Substantial effort to grow the mark-recapture study this year mean there are now 367 banded white-chinned petrels in 203 marked burrows in the two study areas.  For accurate, precise survival estimates this marked population needs recaptures at existing marked burrows for a minimum of two more years.  The two years of resighting data obtained to date are not yet enough for mark-recapture modelling to produce a useful survival estimate.  However, summary statistics highlighted the importance of quality monitoring data: startlingly low year-on-year return rates recorded last year (24% of birds that had been in the colony the previous season returned) were 76% this year, closer to the return rates expected for annual breeders.  Burrow reoccupancy was also better than the year prior, with 39% of burrows marked last year reoccupied this season, compared to just 27% the year before, although reoccupancy still appears low compared to the 44–68% recorded at Antipodes Island in a 2007–11 study.”

A White-chinned Petrel breeding pair on Antipodes Island, by Dave Boyle

Reference:

Rexer-Huber, K., Whitehead, E., Walker, K. & Elliott, G. 2025.  Antipodean wandering albatrosses and white-chinned petrels 2025.  Report to Department of Conservation, Conservation Services Programme.  Dunedin: Parker Conservation.  28 pp.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 12 August 2025

 

Black-browed Albatrosses in flight in the Southern Ocean, by Edward Adrian Wilson, pencil and watercolour, aboard the Discovery, 1901

Jonathan Rutter (Department of Biology, University of Oxford, UK) and colleagues have published open access in the Journal of Applied Ecology on tracking Black-browed Albatrosses Thalassarche melanophris at sea in relation to the presence of fishing vessels in the South Atlantic.

The paper’s abstract follows:

1. “Many pelagic seabird species are threatened by bycatch in fisheries.  Bycatch risk assessments benefit from quantifying the frequency, duration and location of individual seabird interactions with fishing vessels.  However, proximity-based interaction analyses are limited by the availability and spatiotemporal resolution of bird and vessel tracking data.
2. Here, we examined whether patterns in seabird landing and take-off behaviour (immersion) derived from GLS-immersion loggers (0.167 Hz) can detect vessel interactions when tracking data are lacking or incomplete.  We identified close-proximity seabird-vessel interactions by spatiotemporally matching high-resolution GPS data (0.02–1 Hz) from 45 black-browed albatrosses (Thalassarche melanophris) to Automatic Identification System (AIS) data from trawler vessels.  We used random forest models to investigate whether immersion patterns alone could distinguish these vessel interactions from natural foraging behaviours.
3. We observed multiple seabird-vessel interaction types, with active vessel ‘following’ (with multiple landings) comprising only 59% of discrete interaction events.  Other interaction types included ‘stopping’ (with 1 landing) and ‘passing’ (with 0 landings).
4. Using immersion patterns alone, we could distinguish vessel following in >80% of both foraging timesteps and discrete foraging bouts, with false positive vessel following detections totalling <10% of true positives.
5. We found that GLS-immersion loggers sometimes remain wet following take-off, leading to inflated durations of on-water periods.  However, leaving this error uncorrected only slightly reduced the performance of our random forest models.
6. Policy implications.  We demonstrate that seabird immersion patterns alone can detect high-risk seabird-vessel interactions, even in the absence of locational data for both seabirds and vessels.  Our approach could allow for more comprehensive seabird bycatch risk assessments that quantify previously hidden seabird-vessel interactions, such as those involving migratory life history stages and illegal, unreported or unregulated (IUU) fishing vessels.”

Read a popular account of the publication.

Reference:

Rutter, J.D., Carneiro, A.P.B., Catry, P., Maurice, L., Padget, O., Davis, K.J. & Guilford, T. 2025.  Immersion patterns alone can predict vessel following by albatrosses.  Journal of Applied Ecology 62: 1831-1843.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 11 August 2026

A view of Japan's World Albatross Day 2025 exhibition in the Nature Centre of the Tokyo Port Wild Bird Park

This year World Albatross Day & Seabird Week in Japan featured a rich lineup of interactive, artistic, and educational activities—from a bird‑watching tour and expert lectures to immersive visual exhibits—all aimed at raising awareness and promoting seabird conservation.  The event took place over 14-20 July 2025 at the Tokyo Port Wild Bird Park, with the exhibition continuing for two additional weeks until 6 July.

Searching for Little Terns on the field outing

On 14 June, a birdwatching tour was held at the Morisaki Water Reclamation Center rooftop in Tokyo, where an artificial nesting site for Little Terns Sternula albifrons has been established.  Organized by the NPO Little Tern Project, the event brought together 50 participants.  They observed the terns as well as Asian House Martins Delichon dasypus and Little Ringed Plovers Charadrius dubius at the site.  Following the tour, those who wished to continue joined a visit to the exhibition at Tokyo Port Wild Bird Park, where Professor Hiroshi Hasegawa provided an in-depth explanation of the displays and of ongoing seabird conservation efforts.

Hiroshi Hasegawa lectures on the Short-tailed Albatross

On 15 June, a hybrid lecture event was held with 40 people attending in person, and over 60 participated online.  The programme began with a presentation by Hiroshi on a review of Vulnerable Short-tailed Albatross Phoebastria albatrus surveys, followed by five additional talks covering topics such as monitoring of Short-tailed Albatross colonies, decoy-based conservation, Little Tern population surveys, needle-felt art of seabirds and seabird photography.  A Q&A session wrapped up the day, offering attendees the chance to engage with all the speakers.

Japanese language versions of ACAP Infographics for the three North Pacific albatrosses on display were sponsored by the Yamashina Institute for Ornithology

The three-week exhibition featured a wide range of displays, including a life-sized tapestry of the Short-tailed Albatross, photographs of the species taken in Japan, an albatross decoy used for the conservation effort, and seabird-themed artworks, including needle-felt creations.  Visitors could also enjoy a picture story show, view videos on seabird research and fisheries bycatch issues, along with posters introducing seabird conservation efforts from across Japan, with a focus on threaten ed species. During the exhibition period, the venue received an estimated 970 visitors.

A similar three-week event was held to mark World Albatross Day on 19 June in Tokyo in 2024 (click here).

With thanks to the World Albatross Day & Seabird Week Events Committee for the text and photographs.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 08 August 2025

Campbell Island showing key locations referred to for seabird work conducted in 2024/25, from the publication

Claudia Mischler and colleagues have produced a final report for the Conservation Services Programme of the New Zealand Department of Conservation that summarizes research conducted on seven species of ACAP-listed albatrosses and petrels on sub-Antarctic Campbell Island during the 2024/25 austral summer,

The report’s summary follows:

“This trip was the second year of a two-year follow-up project from the work done on Campbell Island in March 2020 and February 2023 to primarily determine population trends for southern royal albatross (Diomedea epomophora).  Nests were counted in two study (Col and Moubray) and three index areas (Faye, Paris, Honey) to compare to historical counts. Additional aims were to resight marked birds, band up to 200 pairs in the Col study area, deploy PTT-GPS transmitters, GPS loggers, and GLS loggers, and set up remote cameras on nests to monitor breeding success. Other species work included conducting photo point counts for Campbell (Thalassarche impavida) and grey-headed albatross (T. chrysostoma), deploying remote cameras on grey-headed albatross nests, and deploying PTT-GPS transmitters on Campbell albatross. Accessible nest sites were searched for light-mantled sooty albatross (Phoebetria palpebrata) and remote cameras set up at nests. Opportunistic searches while traveling or within southern royal albatross study and index areas were done for Antipodean albatross (Diomedea antipodensis antipodensis), and any unbanded birds were marked. Opportunistic searches and counts were also done for northern giant petrels (Macronectes halli) and whitechinned petrels (Procellaria aequinoctialis), and PTT-GPS transmitters were deployed on northern giant petrel juveniles.

Nest counts for southern royal albatross showed an overall decline of 31.0% since the 1990s  and a 25.2% decline since the 2000s. The Paris index area had the highest percent change of -46.9% since the 1990s, and Col study area had the lowest at -19.6%. A total of 15 PTT-GPS transmitters were deployed on non-breeding adult southern royal albatross in the Col study area and tracks showed that birds moved north, mainly up the east coast of the South Island and east to the Chatham Rise, and east to southern South America, particularly over the Patagonian Shelf east of Argentina. Thirteen GPS loggers were deployed on breeding adults and removed again by the end of the trip, and 16 previously deployed GLS loggers were retrieved. For demographics, 81 nests had both birds of the pair marked within the Col study area which is in addition to the 113 pairs completed in 2023/24 (total of 194 pairs). Twenty-two cameras were serviced from 2023/24 to monitor breeding success, and an additional 12 were deployed. Based on the Campbell and grey-headed albatross photo point counts, the percent change between 2019/20 and 2024/25 showed a decline in the total number of Campbell albatross (sitting and loafing birds) of 11.0% and a decline of 2.4% in the total number grey-headed albatross. For breeding success monitoring of grey-headed albatross, five cameras were serviced covering 24 nests. Ten PTT-GPS transmitters deployed on Campbell albatross showed that most birds headed south towards Antarctica. For light-mantled sooty albatross, a total of 11 cameras were serviced covering 15 nests to continue monitoring of breeding success. Ten Antipodean albatross were found on the Moubray Peninsula, of which three were previously banded on Campbell Island in 2023/24. Ten PTT-GPS transmitters were deployed on northern giant petrel juveniles, showing movements towards South America.”

Reference:

Mischler, C., Moore, P., Thompson, H., Hamilton, K. & Pryde, M. 2025.  POP2024-03 Campbell Island Seabird Research Project.  [Wellington]:  Department of Conservation.  53 pp.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 07 August 2025