Wisdom’s 2024/25 chick. April 2025, photograph by Dan Rapp

The following edited news article written by Ann Bell for the Friends of Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge gives information on the current offspring of Wisdom, the atoll’s Layan Albatross Phoebetria immutabilis, who will be well known to regular readers of ACAP Latest News.

“Wisdom, a 74+ year old Laysan Albatross, which makes her the world's oldest known banded bird in the wild, has a banded chick and a known grand chick this year.  We are sure she has more grand kids and great grand kids.  However, it is happenstance when humans are able to locate her banded kin in the seemingly never-ending sea of albatross chicks on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge/Battle of Midway National Memorial.

Wisdom's Chick

Wisdom's chick is somewhat of a late bloomer this year with its hatching date being towards the end of the season.  Currently, Midway Atoll is blanketed in albatross chicks sitting alone waiting for days on end for a parent to show up with food.  Each parent must expend extra energy searching the surface of the high seas in order to feed themselves and bring back enough squid and floating masses of fish eggs for them to feed to their growing chick.  This is the time of year when chicks seem to slowly loose or gain mass.  Therefore, we are beyond hoping the best for this chick, which would make it Wisdom's youngest of approximately 35 chicks she has reared.

Wisdom's Grand Chick

Wisdom’s 2024/25 grand chick via her son N333, April 2025, photographs by Dan Rapp

Wisdom's grand chick appears to be doing well and was totally ‘working it' during its photo shoot by the family's personal photographer Dan Rapp.  Wisdom's grand chick is living the life protected in a very elevated dune line created by naupaka bushes.”

ACAP Latest News will report on the two breeding attempts as information becomes available.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 05 May 2025

Bird-scaring line

Mireia Villafáfila (Department of Biology, Institute of Marine Science, University of Cadiz, Spain) and colleagues have published a literature review open access in the journal Animal Conservation on the effectiveness of regulations and mitigation measures in reducing bycatch of marine vertebrates, including seabirds.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“The fishing gear deployed by fishermen [sic] in seas and oceans throughout the world not only captures target species but also unintentionally ensnares non-target species, a phenomenon known as ‘by-catch’. This unintended capture of marine life can represent significant challenges for the fishing industry, with adverse impacts on both the environment and species such as sea turtles, marine mammals, seabirds and elasmobranchs, which may be injured or even killed.   To address this problem, the fishing industry has implemented regulations and mitigation measures. In this literature review, we have examined 389 papers published between 2010 and 2022 that assess the effectiveness of these measures.  Taking into account the fishing gear with which each group interacts the most, trawls for sea turtles, gillnets for marine mammals and longlines for seabirds and elasmobranchs, it has been demonstrated that ‘TEDs’ (Turtle Excluder Devices) are an effective measure for sea turtles, ‘pingers’ for marine mammals and ‘BSLs’ (Bird Scaring Lines), more commonly known as ‘tori lines’, for seabirds.  The most complex case is that of elasmobranchs, and the most effective measure has yet to be discovered.  This complexity arises from the ongoing targeted jsurveys.  Overall, we encourage the global implementation of these measures by the fishing industry in order to reduce by-catch in an attempt to ensure the future of many endangered species.”

Reference:

Villafáfila, M., Carpio A.J. & Rivas, M.L. 2025.  Animal Conservation 28: 172-184.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 02 May 2025

Water bombing the remaining hotspots on Amsterdam Island, April 2025, photograph by Elliott Bars, TAAF

ACAP Latest News has been reporting on the wildfire that burnt much of France’s Amsterdam Island in the southern Indian Ocean earlier this year, causing the island to be evacuated of its scientific and support staff as a precautionary measure.  The recent media release dated 28 April from Terres australes et antarctiques françaises (TAAF) has some more positive news for the island’s threetened albatrosses.  The following information comes via Google Translate.

“The Marion Dufresne, a supply ship for the French Southern and Antarctic Territories (TAAF), has just completed an eight-day stopover on Amsterdam Island, which has been evacuated since 16 January due to a vegetation fire directly threatening the Martin-de-Viviès base.  The restoration of the base's essential facilities (water, energy, fire protectio and telecommunications) and the extinguishing of the three hot spots persisting within the extended perimeter of the base have enabled a mission of 14 technical and military personnel to remain on the island.”

The last three hot spots persisting around the Antonelli Crater, two kilometres from the base, were detected and extinguished with the support of a helicopter equipped with a "Bambi Bucket" water-dropping system.  An inspection carried out by two firefighters at the Pointe Bénédicte site where the fire started, however, did not determine the causes of the blaze.  A thermal imaging camera flight over the island revealed that no other hotspots are currently active on the island.  The flight confirmed that the fire had spared the most sensitive habitats for birdlife, including: the plateau des Tourbières, breeding locality of the Endangered Amsterdam Albatross Diomedea amsterdamensis, a species endemic to the island; and the falaises d’Entrecasteaux, a breeding site of the Endangered Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross eThalassarche carteri and the Endangered Sooty Albatross Phoebetria fusca.

“Amsterdam Awareness”, watercolour of an Amsterdam Albatross chick by Kitty Harvill of Artists & Biologists Unite for Nature (ABUN) for World Albatross Day 19 June 2025, after a photograph by Jérémy Dechartre

“The flight over the eastern part of the island, however, confirmed that approximately 90% of the Phylica arborea forest, the only native tree in the French Southern Territories National Nature Reserve, were affected by the fire.  On the scientific front, teams from the French Polar Institute (IPEV) winterized and assessed the scientific facilities on the base and at the Pointe Bénédicte site.   The two refuges managed by the IPEV (Del Cano and Entrecasteaux), which were spared by the fire, were also winterized.  All of these operations helped secure the base.  In light of these results, the Prefect, the senior administrator of the TAAF (French Southern and Antarctic Territories), authorized the continued presence on the island of the district chief, the base doctor, and a team of 12 technical and military personnel who will be relieved during the Marion Dufresne's next visit to the area in August.”

ACAP Latest News will keep a lookout for further news, including whether field biologists will return to the island in August, allowing for monitoring and population censuses of the island’s ACAP-listed albatrosses and other breeding seabirds to be undertaken.  It should also allow continued tracking for signs of any rodents that might have survived last year’s eradication operation.

The Amsterdam and Indian Yellow-nosed Albatrosses are the “feature species” for this year’s World Albatross Day on 19 June, with its theme of “Effects of Disease”. Both albatrosses are threatened by diseases on Amsterdam Island.

With thanks to Susan Micol.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 01 May 2025

V917 investigates a sun shade lean to used by chicks  in the James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge on Oahu, photograph from Pacific Rim Conservation

A Black-footed Albatross Phoebastria nigripes was translocated as a chick from Midway Atoll to the James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge on Oahu in 2020 where it was hand fed  until it fledged bearing colour band V917.  Now the bird has been seen back in the refuge this year as a five-year old.

Pacific Rim Conservation states on its Facebook page  “Ka’upu spend the first 2-6 years at sea before returning to their breeding grounds.  We hope V917 will find a mate and start nesting in the near future!”

Returning translocated Black-footed Albatrosses courting in the James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge, photograph by Eric VanderWerf

Black-footed Albatrosses from earlier cohorts out of 100 translocated over the period 2017-2021 from Midway and Tern Island, French Frigate Shoals in the North Western Hawaiian Island chain have been recorded back in the James Campbell NWR (click here), with courting and mutual displays observed.   Read more about the translocation of Black-footed Albatrosses and three other seabird species within  the refuge by Pacific Rim Conserrvation here.

References:

VanderWerf, E.A., Young, L.C., Kohley, C.R., Dalton, M.E., Fisher, R., Fowlke, L., Donohue, S. & Dittmar, E. 2019.  Establishing Laysan and black-footed albatross breeding colonies using translocation and social attraction.  Global Ecology and Conservation doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2019.e00667.

Young, L.C., VanderWerf, E.S., Dittmar, E.M., Kohley, R., Goodale, K., Plentovich, S.M. & MacPherson, L. 2024.  Status of Laysan and Black-Footed Albatrosses on O‘ahu, Hawai‘i.  Pacific Science 78: 103-117.

 John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 30 April 2025