Japan’s 99-ha Okinoshima Island along with three nearby reefs was given World Heritage status as a cultural site by the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (WHC) at its 41st Session of the Committee held in Krakow, Poland this and last week (click here).  The island, although heavily infested with rats (thought to be both Black Rattus rattus and Norwegian R. norvegicus), supports a large population of globally Near Threatened Streaked Shearwaters Calonectris leucomelas, reported by BirdLife International as of c.150 000 individuals.

Streaked Shearwater

“The Sacred Island of Okinoshima and Associated Sites in the Munakata are located 60 km off the western coast of Kyushu island, the island of Okinoshima is an exceptional example of the tradition of worship of a sacred island. The archaeological sites that have been preserved on the Island are virtually intact, and provide a chronological record of how the rituals performed there changed from the 4th to the 9th centuries CE. In these rituals, votive objects were deposited as offerings at different sites on the Island. Many of them are of exquisite workmanship and had been brought from overseas, providing evidence of intense exchanges between the Japanese archipelago, the Korean Peninsula and the Asian continent. Integrated within the Grand Shrine of Munakata, the island of Okinoshima is considered sacred to this day.”

Read of an expedition to the island to gather information on its invasive rats here.  The visit also recorded rodent depredation on the shearwaters.  The island was designated a National Wildlife Protection Area by Japan’s Ministry of the Environment in 1984 (click here).

Women are banned from entry to Okinoshima in terms of Shinto religious belief.  During an annual festival in May about 200 men are given permission to land, otherwise the island is only visited by (male) priests.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 13 July 2017

At the Sixth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), held in South Africa in November 1999, the attending Parties adopted a first resolution (6.2) on bycatch (defined as the incidental capture of a non-target species in fisheries).  The resolution made specific mention of albatrosses and petrels.

Since then the CMS has adopted four further resolutions on bycatch. These have now been consolidated into a single resolution to replace all the existing ones.  It will be considered at the 12th Meeting of the Conference of Parties, to be held in Manila, Philippines in October 2017 (UNEP/CMS/COP12/Doc.24.4.4).

A bycaught Wandering Albatross gets a longline hook removed, photograph by the British Antarctic Survey

In preparation for the upcoming CoP in Manila the combined resolution is up for discussion at the Second Meeting of the Sessional Committee of the Scientific Council (ScC-SC2) of the CMS being held in Bonn, Germany this week.   The main objective of the meeting is to provide advice on scientific and technical matters to the CoP.

The draft bycatch text takes note of “the work already completed or underway” by ACAP on bycatch issues.  ACAP’s Executive Secretary, Marco Favero is attending the meeting in Bonn. 

A new resolution on managing marine debris will also be discussed.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 12 July 2017

Anicee Lombal (School of Biological Sciences, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia) and colleagues have published in the journal Conservation Genetics on genetic differences in two populations of Flesh-footed Shearwaters Ardenna carneipes.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Increasing evidence suggests foraging segregation as a key mechanism promoting genetic divergence within seabird species.  However, testing for a relationship between population genetic structure and foraging movements among seabird colonies can be challenging.  Telemetry studies suggest that Flesh-footed Shearwater Ardenna carneipes that breed at Lord Howe Island or New Zealand, versus southwestern Australia or Saint-Paul Island in the Indian Ocean, migrate to different regions (North Pacific Ocean and northern Indian Ocean, respectively) during the non-breeding season, which may inhibit gene flow among colonies. In this study, we sequenced a 858-base pair mitochondrial region and seven nuclear DNA fragments (352–654 bp) for 148 individuals to test genetic differentiation among colonies of Flesh-footed Shearwaters.  Strong genetic divergence was detected between Pacific colonies relative to those further West.  Molecular analysis of fisheries’ bycatch individuals sampled in the Sea of Japan indicated that individuals from both western and eastern colonies were migrating through this area, and hence the apparent segregation of the non-breeding distribution based on telemetry is invalid and cannot contribute to the population genetic structure among colonies.  The genetic divergence among colonies is better explained by philopatry and evidence of differences in foraging strategies during the breeding season, as supported by the observed genetic divergence between Lord Howe Island and New Zealand colonies.  We suggest molecular analysis of fisheries’ bycatch individuals as a rigorous method to identify foraging segregation, and we recommend the eastern and western A. carneipes colonies be regarded as different Management Units.”

Flesh-footed Shearwater, photograph by Barry Baker

Reference:

Lombal, A.J., Wenner, T.J., Lavers, J.L., Austin, J.J., Woehler, E.J., Hutton, I.  & Burridge, C.P.  2017.  Genetic divergence between colonies of Flesh-footed Shearwater Ardenna carneipes exhibiting different foraging strategies.  Conservation Genetics doi:10.1007/s10592-017-0994-y.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 11 July 2017

Christian Gutierrez, a 19-year-old university student, was sentenced last Thursday in a Hawaiian court to 45 days in jail, a fine of US$ 1000 and 200 hours of community service for his part in the killing of 15 breeding Laysan Albatrosses Phoebastria immutabilis in the Kaena Point Natural Area Reserve on the Hawaiian island of Oahu in December 2015.

“Christian Gutierrez must begin serving his jail sentence immediately. He also received one year’s probation.  He had pleaded no contest in state court in March to one count each of misdemeanour animal cruelty and theft, petty misdemeanour criminal property damage and of committing prohibited acts involving indigenous wildlife and in a natural area reserve” (click here).

A slaughtered Laysan Albatross lies next to its egg

Previous to sentencing Deputy Prosecutor Janice Futa had asked for the maximum penalty of a year in prison and up to US$ 7000 in fines, as well as restitution to Pacific Rim Conservation, the non-profit that manages the albatross colony.

Listen to a video clip and read the comment of the judge and Gutierrez's apology in court here.

Read earlier stories on the “albatrossity” in ACAP Latest News from here.

John Cooper, ACAP Latest News, 10 July 2017