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.

Milton Avalos (Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Portugal) and colleagues write in the journal Marine Biology on changes in the foraging distribution of Cory’s Shearwaters Calonectris borealis in relation to changes in marine productivity.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Seabirds due to their status as sentinels of the marine environment can indicate qualitative changes at various levels of the food web. Furthermore, changes in marine productivity have been correlated with fluctuations in large-scale atmospheric conditions driven by global indices, such as the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index. During the winter of 2009/2010, the second lowest NAO index in history was recorded leading to detrimental conditions that influenced productivity levels in the northeast Atlantic. The response of the Cory’s Shearwater Calonectris borealis, during the period of ameliorating climatic conditions from this drastic event, was monitored in two islands with contrasting productivity patterns: Berlenga, located on the rich upwelling area of the Portuguese shelf; and Cima Islet (Porto Santo Island), located in a poor oceanic environment in the Madeira Archipelago. We collected a multi-year GPS-tracking data set (2011–2015) from adult breeders during the chick-rearing season to examine their at-sea foraging distribution. During a year of low productivity, kernel estimations demonstrated that Cima Islet birds expanded their home ranges and core foraging areas all over the northeast Atlantic, whereas Berlenga birds maintained their distribution close to the breeding colony. Once oceanographic conditions ameliorated from 2012 to 2015, birds decreased significantly their foraging effort, and oceanic breeders concentrated their activity closer to the breeding colony. Analysis of habitat use by means of Maximum Entropy Modelling confirmed distance-to-colony as the most important predictor in the distribution of Cory’s Shearwater. Environmental variables describing sea surface temperature, bathymetry, and chlorophyll a were more influential in Porto Santo, indicating higher sensitivity of the oceanic population to marine productivity proxies. Our study confirms that the Cory’s Shearwater possesses enormous flexibility in its foraging tactics and that neither oceanic nor neritic populations disperse randomly from their breeding colonies to the open ocean even under conditions of environmental stochasticity. Instead, populations breeding in contrasting environments vary in their responses according to their strategies and to the changing levels of marine productivity in the surroundings of their colonies.”

Cory's Shearwaters, photograph by Paulo Catry

Reference:

Avalos, M.R., Ramos, J.A., Soares, M., Ceia, F.R., Fagundes, A.I., Gouveia, C., Menezes, D. & Paiva, V.H. 2017.  Comparing the foraging strategies of a seabird predator when recovering from a drastic climatic event. Marine Biology 164: 48.  doi:10.1007/s00227-017-3082-4.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 20 March 2017

Airam Rodríguez (Research Department, Phillip Island Nature Parks, Cowes, Australia) and colleagues have published in the Journal of Wildlife Management on the condition of beach-washed and artificial light-downed Short-tailed Shearwater Ardenna tenuirostris fledglings.

The paper’s abstract follows:

One of the most critical phases in the life of petrels (Procellariiformes) is at fledging when young birds pass from parental dependence on land to an independent life at sea. To mitigate mortality at this time, rescue programs are implemented near breeding sites around the world, especially for birds grounded by artificial lights. We evaluated the plumage and body condition of short-tailed shearwater (Ardenna tenuirostris) fledglings captured at colonies just before departure in comparison to fledglings washed up on beaches and to fledglings attracted by artificial light along roads. We measured abundance of down, body mass, and body condition index as the standardized residuals of a regression of body mass on size, and employed linear models to test differences on body mass and body condition between locations. Beach-washed birds were underweight and in poor condition, suggesting their future survival probabilities at sea were low. Birds rescued on roads as a consequence of light attraction had lower body weights and condition indices than fledglings captured at the colony. However, more than 50% of light-attracted birds had attained similar weights to those of adults, suggesting they have higher probabilities of survival than beach-washed birds. Water-logged birds being washed onto beaches is a natural process, but birds grounded by lighting along roads is an increasing anthropogenic threat that requires management. Thus, management and conservation efforts should be directed to protect birds in the colonies and reduce light-induced mortality, ideally through the strategic reduction of light sources and lateral light spillage. When resources for conservation are limited, rescue programs should focus on rescuing birds from roads rather than beach-washed birds, which have a lower probability of survival.”

Short-tailed Shearwater, photograph by Mark Carey

Reference:

Rodríguez, A., Moffett, J., Revoltós, A., Wasiak, P., Mcintosh, R.R, Sutherland, D.R., Renwick, l., Dann, P. & Chiaradia, A. 2017.  Light pollution and seabird fledglings: Targeting efforts in rescue programs.  Journal of Wildlife Management DOI: 10.1002/jwmg.21237.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 17 March 2017