The passing of Chandler Seymour ‘Chan’ Robbins (17 July 1918 - 20 March 2017) this week is a sad loss to ornithology

Chandler Robbins’ long career (he lived to 98 years of age and worked well into his retirement years as a volunteer with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Patuxent Wildlife Research Center) commenced with the US Fish & Wildlife Service in 1945 – two years before I was born.  His ornithological achievements over seven decades included initiating breeding surveys, running banding programmes and producing bird books.

Chandler Robbins with his venerable binoculars

Chandler Robbins with an albatross in earlier days 

From the perspective of the Albatross and Petrel Agreement Chandler Robbins is well known as the man who first banded Wisdom, the 66+ year old Laysan Albatross Phoebastria immutabilis as an adult on the USA’s Midway Atoll way back in 1956 (I was then only nine).  His resighting of the now colour-banded bird in 2002 led to Wisdom becoming famous as the World’s oldest bird.  Certainly, she is the oldest known albatross of any species.  She has had a children’s book written about her and for a while had an active Facebook page of her own.  So good then to report that Wisdom and her current mate are still going strong and are currently rearing her nth chick on Midway (click here).

Wisdom wiith her latest egg (now hatched) in December 2016, photograph by the US Fish & Wildlife Service

I only met Chandler Robbins, on one occasion, fittingly at a workshop we attended on the population biology of the Black-footed Albatross P. nigripes in Honolulu in the Hawaiian islands in October 1998.  Chandler’s contributions to the workshop on the birds he banded and recaptured on Midway allowed for the attendees to model the species’ population dynamics; matters covered in the workshop report, edited by Kathy Cousins and myself.

“Chan was gracious and giving. He was possessed of the deepest humanity. An encounter with Robbins typically resulted in a “Chan story,” usually entertaining and a bit surreal, invariably humbling, and sometimes literally life-changing.”

Read more of Chandler's passing here and here.

ACAP extends its sympathies to Chandler’s relatives, friends and colleagues.  We can imagine that at a special nest on Midway, or far out to sea on a chick-provisioning trip, Wisdom is tipping a wing from one old timer to another for a life well lived. 

References:

Cousins, K.L. & Cooper, J. 2000.  The Population Biology of the Black-footed Albatross in Relation to Mortality Caused by Longline Fishing.  Honolulu: Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council.  120 pp.

Hull, J. 2014. Three generations of citizen science: the pioneer.  Audubon November-December 2014.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 24 March 2018

The ACAP Secretariat recently moved from its long-term offices in Salamanca Square immediately behind Hobart’s historic Salamanca Place to closer to the city centre at 119 Macquarie Street.

The new offices are on the second floor of the five-level National Mutual Life Building, completed in 1908 and designed by the Australian architect Alan Cameron Walker.  The design was chosen from 17 entries by the then National Mutual Life Association of Australia (founded in 1869) to mark the Federation of Australia in 1901.  When completed it was the tallest building in Hobart.  It is described as mixing Romanesque and neo-Gothic architecture.  The sandstone building is one of many that grace Hobart and elsewhere in Tasmania (click here).

The new home has space to accommodate ACAP's Executive Secretary and Science Officer as well as visitors.  it is able to continue to support ACAP’s regular internship and secondment programmes, as well as hosting visits of ACAP Officers and others.  The building has a public conference room that will allow ACAP to hold small workshops and other meetings.

ACAP’s Information Officer looks forward to testing the new facilities when he visits the Secretariat for  a week from his home in Cape Town, South Africa this July.  He will follow on from a planned visit by Nathan Walker, Chair of ACAP’s Advisory Committee from New Zealand in May.  During Nathan’s visit arrangements for the Tenth Meeting of ACAP’s Advisory Committee (AC10) which is to be held in Wellington, New Zealand from 11 to 15 September this year, will be high on the agenda for discussion.

Macquarie Street was named after Major-General Lachlan Macquarie, Governor of New South Wales (which then included what became the State of Tasmania) from 1810 to 1821. He also leant his name to Australia’s sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island, home to breeding populations of seven species of ACAP-listed albatrosses and petrels.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 23 March 2017

Regular readers of ACAP Latest News will remember the case of the killing of Laysan Albatrosses  Phoebastria immutabilis in the Kaena Point Natural Area Reserve on the Hawaiian island of Oahu during the night of 27/28 December 2105.  A year later a suspect was arrested and charged with the crime (click here).

“Up to 15 albatrosses were slaughtered at Kaena Point.  In some cases their feet were cut off so that identification tags could be removed. Eggs were smashed, and bird monitoring equipment worth [US] $3,000 was stolen. One bird was shot in the head with a .177 caliber air rifle pellet”.

A slaughtered Laysan Albatross lies next to its egg at Kaena Point, photograph from Pacific Rim Conservation

It is now reported that one of the three people (the other two were minors at the time of the offence) charged with slaughtering the albatrosses has agreed to a plea deal in a Hawaiian court.  Christian Gutierrez, a university student, was initially charged with 19 criminal counts and originally pleaded not guilty.  Fourteen animal cruelty charges were then dropped and Gutierrez has pleaded no contest to "five counts including: theft, cruelty to animals, criminal property damage, prohibited activities with respect to indigenous wildlife and introduced wild birds, and a prohibited act in a natural area reserve".  Gutierrez could face up to a year in jail plus thousands of dollars in fines, although he is seeking a deferred acceptance of his plea in the hopes of avoiding imprisonment.

The other two persons charged are to be tried confidentially through a Family Court.  It was stated that the plea was arranged to obtain Gutierrez’s cooperation in providing testimony against the other defendants.  Gutierrez is scheduled to be sentenced on 1 June.

"The maximum sentence for animal cruelty is a year in prison. Breiner [the defence attorney] is asking the judge to defer acceptance of the plea, which would allow Gutierrez to avoid a conviction if he stays out of trouble for a specified amount of time." (click here).

Read reactions to the plea bargain here.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 22 March 2017

Theresa Burg (Biological Sciences, University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada) and colleagues have published “early view” in the journal Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems on a genetic study of Black‐browed Thalassarche melanophris and Campbell Thalassarche impavida Albatrosses.

“1. Previous genetic studies found evidence of at least three distinct groups of black‐browed Thalassarche melanophris and Campbell Thalassarche impavida albatrosses in the Southern Ocean. Almost 350 individuals including samples from additional breeding sites on the Falkland Islands and South Georgia Island were screened using mitochondrial DNA.

2. The new sequence data using lineage specific PCR primers provided further support for the taxonomic split of T. melanophris and T. impavida and separate management of the two distinct T. melanophris groups.

3. In total, 207 black‐browed albatrosses killed in longline fisheries were screened. Approximately 93% of the bycaught birds from the Falkland Islands belonged to the Falkland mtDNA group and the remaining birds had mtDNA from the Widespread T. melanophris group; these proportions were similar to those in the local Falklands breeding population. The South African and South Georgia bycatch samples predominantly comprised the Widespread T. melanophris group, with only one bird from each area containing Falkland mtDNA. Lastly, 81% of the albatrosses bycaught off New Zealand had T. impavida mtDNA and the remaining four birds were widespread T. melanophris. These differences in bycatch composition matched what is known from tracking and banding data about the at‐sea distribution of black‐browed albatrosses.

4. Based on the mtDNA results and current population trends, consideration should be given to assigning regional IUCN status for the different breeding populations.

A Campbell Albatross tends its downy chick, photograph by David Evans

With thanks to Richard Phillips.

Reference:

Burg, T.M., Catry, P., Ryan, P.G. & Phillips, R.A. 2017.  Genetic population structure of black-browed and Campbell albatrosses, and implications for assigning provenance of birds killed in fisheries.  Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems  DOI: 10.1002/aqc.2765.