Lord Howe Island, photograph by Ian Hutton

In 2019 after a long period of discussion and planning a concerted attempt was made to eradicate non-native Black Rats Rattus rattus and House Mice Mus musculus on Australia’s inhabited Lord Howe Island.  All signs pointed to the operation being a success, but now news is in that two adult rats have been seen recently on the island.  Fortunately, both rodents, found to be a male and a pregnant female, were caught on 16 April.

The Lord Howe Island Board reports that no other activity had been detected as of 19 April but that investigations were continuing.  “The preliminary view is that the rats were likely an incursion from the mainland, such as by cargo, rather than the survivors of the initial eradication.  Genetic testing will investigate the issue.  As a precaution, a strategic response strategy has begun, involving rat detection dogs, the placement of monitoring and baiting stations, and targeted inspections of high facilities.  While some locals have reported rodent sightings in the past, the discovery of the rats on the island represents a new phase in the program to keep the rats out.  This involves strict biosecurity arrangements to keep the risk of new rodents arriving by boat or plane as close to zero as possible."

Lord Howe supports breeding populations of Black-winged Pterodroma nigripennis and Providence P. solandri Petrels along with Flesh-footed Ardenna carneipes, Wedge-tailed A. pacifica and Little Puffinus assimilis Shearwaters that were already showing signs of improved breeding success following the 2019 eradication operation.

Flesh-footed Shearwater on Lord Howe Island, photograph by Tim Reid

Read more here.

With thanks to Nigel Brothers.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 21 April 2021

Chatham Albatrosses and the Pyramid, artwork from her "Silent Slaughter" series by Eva-Cherie Artz

The Twelfth Meeting of ACAP’s Advisory Committee (AC12) will be held as a virtual meeting from 30/31 August to 1/2 September 2021.  A detailed schedule will be provided nearer the dates of the meeting, with details of the local time at different locations.

Meetings of the Seabird Bycatch Working Group, and the Population and Conservation Status Working Group will precede AC12: SBWG10 from 16/17 to 18/19 August, and PaCSWG6 from 23/24 to 24/25 August 2021.

Meeting sessions will be no longer than four hours per day, to allow for participation across multiple time zones.  Online interpretation will be provided.  A Heads of Delegation meeting will be convened during the first hour of the Advisory Committee meeting.

Deadlines for submission and distribution of meeting documents and for submission of requests for Observer status for AC12 are given in AC12 Circular 4.

ACAP Secretariat, 20 April 2021

Note:  Taken from a news post at the Mouse-Free Marion website, with links added.

One of the donated Bölkow helicopters aboard the Akademik Treshnikov in Cape Town, South Africa after completion of the Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition, photograph from Peter Ryan (left)

At 29 000 hectares, Marion Island will be the largest island by far on which an attempt will be made to eradicate mice in a single exercise.  Consequently, the logistical, planning and funding demands for the project are substantial.  We are very pleased to report that the project has recently received the first tranche of a US$1 million donation made by Dr Frederik Paulsen Jr and Ferring Pharmaceuticals.

Dr Frederik Paulsen Jr

Dr Paulsen is a businessman, academic, philanthropist and explorer, with a deep interest in the history and science of polar exploration. He is a founding member of the Swiss Polar Institute, established in 2015.  The first project of the Swiss Polar Institute was the Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition (ACE), an international scientific voyage to the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic from December 2016 to March 2017, comprising 60 researchers from 30 different countries to study the impact of climate change on the Southern Ocean.  Dr Paulsen provided logistical and funding support to the ACE, in which he also took part.  His participation in the ACE voyage, which included a visit to Marion Island, was the genesis for Dr Paulsen's interest in the project to save Marion Island's seabirds by eradicating the introduced mice.

The US$ 1 million is not the first contribution that Dr Paulsen has made to the project or to large-scale rodent eradication initiatives on islands more broadly.  Previously, Dr Paulsen contributed substantial funds to help support the operation to rid South Georgia (Islas Georgias del Sur)* of invasive rats and mice.  Following the completion of the successful eradication operation … Dr Paulsen donated three Bölkow BO105 helicopters that were used in that operation, along with spares, fuel and US$25 000 to the South African Government for use at Marion Island.

These very generous donations by Dr Paulsen to the Marion project have helped catalyse significant momentum in our preparations and planning for the eradication operation.  They will enable the project to secure dedicated fund-raising capacity and to cover salaries of key project staff, amongst other things.  In addition to his generous funding contributions to the project, Dr Paulsen also serves as a Director of the Mouse-Free Marion Non-Profit Company Board.

Peter Ryan, FitzPatrick Institute, University of Cape with Frederik Paulsen (right), with one of three donated Bölkow helicopters in Cape Town

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 19 April 2021

*A dispute exists between the Governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (Islas Georgias del Sur y Islas Sandwich del Sur) and the surrounding maritime areas.

Northern Giant Petrel by Maureen Bennetts; acrylic on canvas, from a photograph by Laurie Smaglick Johnson 

Javier Quinones ((Oficina de Investigaciones en Depredadores Superiores, Instituto del Mar del Peru, Callao, Peru) and colleagues have published in the journal Notornis on at-sea occurrence of Northern Giant Petrels Macronectes halli (Least Concern) off Peru.  Their short note concludes that the provided information demonstrates the importance of the Northern Humboldt Current for juvenile Northern Giant Petrels during their wintering season.

Sightings of juvenile Northern Giant Petrels in Perúvian waters (from the publication)

Juvenile Northern Giant Petrels flying and feeding in pelagic oceanic waters off Atico (~16°S) in southern Perú (from the publication)

Reference:

Quinones, J., Romero, C. & Zavalaga, C. 2021.  Vessel survey observations confirm wintering dispersion of northern giant-petrel (Macronectes halli) juveniles in southern-central Perú; what is their origin?  Notornis 68: 76-85.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 18 April 2021, updated 19 April 2021