ACAP Latest News has previously reported on an unsuccessful attempt in 2009 to eradicate introduced rats on the Hawaiian island of Lehua, home for small populations of ACAP-listed Black-footed Phoebastria nigripes and Laysan P. immutabilis Albatrosses as well as several other breeding seabird species (click here).

Lehua from the air

Black-footed Albatrosses on Lehua, photograph by Eric Vanderwerf

News is now out of plans to try once more to get rid of Lehua’s rats by applying poison bait (click here).

“The bait will be applied to Lehua Island by helicopter with supplemental hand applications. Two anticoagulant rodenticides are being considered, both of which are authorized or will be authorized and registered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for such conservation applications. The rodenticides are Diphacinone and Brodifacoum. They are used commonly by the global conservation community to remove invasive rats and mice from islands. Locally, this includes the successful eradication of rats from Mokapu islet near Molokai. Once rats are confirmed to have been removed from the island, no additional rodenticide will be needed.”

A draft environmental assessment (DEA) is to be made available for review and public comment this month.

“The purpose of the project is to restore the Lehua Island ecosystem by creating a predator-free, fully-protected refuge for threatened and endangered Hawaiian species. The invasive rats have far reaching impacts on the island’s native birds, plants, and natural systems. Chiefly, they eat native seabird eggs, chicks, and adults. They also consume and destroy the island’s native plants and seeds.”

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 07 March 2017

Hélder Araújo (Departamento de Biologia, Centro de Estudos do Ambiente e do Mar, Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal) and colleagues have published in the journal Marine Biology on aerial censuses of the Critically Endangered and ACAP-listed Balearic Shearwaters Puffinus mauretanicus in Portuguese Continental Shelf Waters.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“The Balearic shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus is one of the most threatened seabirds in the world. To evaluate the abundance and distribution of Balearic Shearwaters in Portuguese Continental Shelf Waters, during the post-breeding period when migrating birds are outside the Mediterranean Sea, we conducted 5 aerial surveys between 2010 and 2014 (21 survey days covering 62,716 km2). Following a line transect method, observers recorded a total of 181 Balearic Shearwaters sightings. Using Distance sampling software, we estimated an overall species abundance (2010–2014) of 10,182, ranging between 2338 in 2010 and 23,221 individuals in 2012. During the 2012 post-breeding period, the Portuguese Continental Shelf Waters were used by up to 96.8% of the latest migratory population assessment. Considering Balearic Shearwater estimates per sampling block, there was a preference for the North and Center sectors of the Portuguese coast (respectively, 7058 and 1366 individuals) where several SPAs were already designated. We computed the annual and overall habitat predictive models for Balearic Shearwaters using a maximum entropy algorithm on MaxEnt software. In all models, the Balearic shearwater distribution was best predicted by mean chlorophyll concentration. Balearic Shearwaters are mostly present in shallow shelf and coastal waters particularly in the widest portions of the continental shelf. These areas are strongly influenced by upwelling, which concurs with the chlorophyll concentration being the most important predicting variable. Portuguese Continental Shelf Waters are one of the most important post-breeding grounds to the Balearic Shearwater.”

Balearic Shearwater at sea, photograph by Pep Arcos

Reference:

Araújo, H., Bastos-Santos, J., Rodrigues, P.C., Ferreira, M., Pereira, A., Henriques, A.C., Monteiro, S.S., Eira, C. & Vingada, J. 2017.  The importance of Portuguese Continental Shelf Waters to Balearic Shearwaters revealed by aerial census.  Marine Biology 164: 55. doi:10.1007/s00227-017-3089-x.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 07 March 2017 

ACAP’s three official working languages are English, French and Spanish. Following an internship programme implemented in previous years (click here), the ACAP Secretariat hosted postgraduate translation students in Hobart between 13 and 17 February 2017.

From the right: Juliana, Carolina and Delphine, with ACAP's Executive Secretary, Marco Favero

The students had the opportunity to gain practical experience with ACAP to fine-tune their translation skills. At the same time, it was a great opportunity for ACAP to contribute to the education of translators, and in the process help to prepare them for a career as translators.

This year’s interns came from the School of Languages, Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics, Monash University, Melbourne (Delphine Marie) and the School of Humanities and Languages, University of New South Wales, Sydney (Carolina Genson and Juliana Castaneda).

We hope they had a great experience and enjoyed their stay in Tassie. We certainly enjoyed their visit and appreciated their work!

Marco Favero, ACAP Executive Secretary, 06 March 2017

Graham Parker of Parker Conservation has reported to ACAP Latest News on field work conducted this austral summer on five species of ACAP-listed species on the Auckland Islands south of New Zealand.

Graham, along with fellow researcher and spouse, Kalinka Rexer-Huber, spent the period from 18 December to 18 February in the island group, working primarily on Adams Island with a few days on Disappointment Island at the end of their trip.

Graham points to a GLS mounted on the leg of a White-chinned Petrel killed by a Subantarctic Skua Catharacta antarctica on  Adams Island

Brief descriptions of work conducted on each species follow:

Gibson's Antipodean Albatross Diomedea antipodensis gibsoni

Demographic work (capture-mark-recapture study to estimate survival and measure recruitment) and GLS (global location sensor) retrieval, working for veteran albatross researchers Graeme Elliot and Kath Walker on Adams Island.

White-capped Albatross Thalassarche steadi

Third season of work partly to establish a marked population to estimate demographic parameters on Disappointment Island. Recapture rates of previously banded birds were encouraging.  This research is partnered with David Thompson of New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA).

A White-capped Albatross colony on Disappointment Island, photograph by Graham Parker 

Light-mantled Albatross Phoebetria palpebrata

Ground counts were made in a dense nesting area on Adams Island as part of a Parker Conservation project.  These counts will be compared with counts made by Barry Baker of Latitude 42 Environmental Management Consultants utilizing helicopter-borne aerial photography.

Light-mantled Albatrosses on Adams Island, photograph by Graham Parker

Northern Giant Petrel Macronectes halli

The entire Auckland Islands breeding population was counted during the 2015/16 summer.  This season the three larger sub-populations on Adams, Enderby and Dundas Islands were counted in order to understand annual changes in the breeding population. This is a Parker Conservation project.

White-chinned Petrel Procellaria aequinoctialis

Demographic work and GLS retrieval on Adams Island was undertaken as part of Kalinka's ongoing PhD research being undertaken in the Department of Zoology, University of Otago in Dunedin.

Read more here.

With thanks to Graham Parker.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 03 March 2017