Registration and abstract submission are now open for the 14th International Seabird Group Conference to be held in Liverpool, UK, 3-6 September 2018; until 16 March for oral and poster abstracts. Early-bird registration is available until 13 April.

“The conference promises to be an exciting showcase of the latest seabird research, located within the heart of the city of Liverpool, famous for its maritime history and cultural diversity”.

Arctic Fulmar at sea

Keynote speakers include Kyle Elliott (“Keeping alight the ocean’s brightest fires of life”; McGill University, Canada), Ana Sanz-Aguillar (“Seabird survival: critical moments and mortality drivers”; Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies, Spain), and Thierry Boulinier (“Host-pathogen interactions in space and time: seabirds as key models to address basic and applied issues”; Le centre national de la recherche scientifique, France), whose talks about seabird ecology, physiology and conservation will complement two and a half days of oral and poster presentations. Click here to read their abstracts.

The conference is being organized by the University of Liverpool. It will be held on the university campus within the city.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 26 January 2018

The 2018 Red List update process for birds is now under way and BirdLife International’s Red List team has begun posting new topics on the Globally Threatened Bird Forums’ website. There are fora for different categories of birds, including one for seabirds.

Two ACAP-listed albatrosses are currently under review, with information on them available on line, along with requests for comments:

Amsterdam Albatross Diomedea amsterdamensis: downlist from Critically Endangered to Endangered?

Shy Albatross Thalassarche cauta: uplist from Near Threatened to Vulnerable?

Amsterdam Albatross, photograph by Kirk Zufelt

Comments on these two albatrosses will be considered in July. Preliminary proposals for changing their category of threat will then be posted. An opportunity to comment further will be given before final recommendations to IUCN are collated. The new and revised species assessments and updated factsheets will be published on the BirdLife International website and incorporated into the 2018 IUCN Red List, currently scheduled for release in November.

“This year, we are also inviting people to send in suggestions for species that may warrant an urgent Red List status change. In order to make sure that there is sufficient time for species to be given a full re-assessment against IUCN Criteria, and to be put through the forum process, the deadline for these submissions is 31 March 2018.”

With thanks to James Westrip, BirdLife Red List Team.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 25 January 2018

Greece has expanded its network of marine protected area (MPAs) by adding 32 new sites and extending 63 others to increase protected coverage of its marine waters in the Aegean and Ionian Seas from 6% to 22%. The new sites bring the total protected area in Greek waters to over a million hectares.

“Overlap between the marine network and marine IBAs (Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas identified by BirdLife) has now jumped to 85% - thereby laying the foundation for the protection of over 60-70% of the [Greek] national seabird population, notably including the Audouin’s Gull, the Mediterranean Shag, Scopoli’s Shearwater, Yelkouan Shearwater and the European Storm Petrel.”

Scopoli’s Shearwater Calonectris diomedea (globally Least Concern) and Yelkouan Shearwater Puffinus yelkouan (globally Vulnerable) have been identified as potential candidates for ACAP listing.  Both species breed on Greek islands.

Scopoli's Shearwater fledgling

Read more here.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 24 January 2018

Out on the water daily, skippers and crew of the tourist vessel MV Monarch endeavour to photograph and document any unusual sightings off New Zealand’s Otago coastline. Apart from the local Northern Royal Albatross Diomedea sanfordi that breed nearby at Taiaroa Head/Pukekura, other albatross species foraging offshore are regularly seen.

On 4 January this year just outside the Otago Harbour the cruise came upon a globally Vulnerable Southern Royal Albatross D. epomophora with a peculiar feature on its bill. From close inspection of two high-quality photographs taken by wildlife guide Aaron Heimann that show both profiles of the bird it appears that a lilac-coloured plastic ring had become wrapped around the upper mandible. Given that the presumed artefact is positioned so far back on the bill it seems likely it was placed there deliberately. In one photo it looks like the object has caused a wound.

Two profile views of the Southern Royal Albatross with a presumed plastic ring around its upper mandible

In flight the Southern Royal Albatross was seen to have ample white feathers on the backs of its wings, so it is presumed it to be an older bird. Its behaviour was much the same as other Southern Royal Albatrosses encountered on the sea surface and in flight. The bird was not observed opening its bill, but it appeared to be healthy and so it was inferred it was still able to forage successfully.

Igor Debski (Science Advisor, Marine Species and Threats, New Zealand Department of Conservation) offers the different suggestion that an artefact had been partly swallowed by the bird leaving a loop tight around the base of the upper mandible. The bird’s apparent lack of obvious signs of stress might, however, count against this. Suggestions from readers what the strange object might be (and how it got there) will be welcomed.

Albatrosses of several species photographed at sea have been reported in ACAP Latest News with other signs of human interference including being daubed with red paint, blotched with oil, carrying fish hooks with trailing lines and with cut-off upper mandibles.

The Monarch is operated by Monarch Wildlife Cruises & Tours, which takes passengers on excursions to view wildlife at sea every day in and around the Otago Harbour, Dunedin, New Zealand.

With thanks to Igor Debski and Junichi Sugishita.  Photographs by Aaron Heimann.

Aaron Heimann, Monarch Wildlife Cruises & Tours with John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 23 January 2018