One of the 10 ten: A Laysan Albatross family

“The first annual Friends of Midway Art Contest judges have already selected the 1st and 2nd place winners, who have been notified.  Now we need YOUR help on voting for the Peoples' Choice Award winner!

The Art Contest Committee has gone through the difficult process of selecting the top 10 pieces of art out of an incredible 31 submissions.  We appreciate each and every artist who participated and will be showcasing all artwork publicly (and announcing winners) August 15th.

Voting is now open August 1st - 8th, one vote per person - anyone can vote.   The voting poll can be found here.

Feel free to share this voting poll with friends and family.  The more voters, the better!”

George and Geraldine: Midway's breeding Short-tailed Albatrosses, artwork by Holly Parsons

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

Tsunami signal from Midway Atoll, 30 July 2026

UPDATE FROM THE KURE ATOLL CONSERVANCY: "Updates from the crew stationed on Kure rolled in yesterday. The scene from the pier shows that the high water mark came up the beach but did not inundate the dunes or any of the paths to the interior. The westernmost point of the island is a long sandy spit and there was some overwash there, but overall the impact from the tsunami is minimal".

An earthquake registered at 8.8 off Russia's far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula on 29 July has triggered up to four-metre tsunami waves in the North Pacific.  It has been reported as the sixth largest on record.  The low-lying atolls of the North Western Hawaiian Islands and their breeding populations of three species of albatrosses and of other ground-nesting seabirds are particularly at risk to being overrun and flooded by climate change-induced sea level rise, tsunamis, and surges and strong winds caused by storms as has happened in the past, leading to the loss, depending on the stage of breeding, of eggs, chicks and adult Black-footed Phoebastria nigripes and Laysan P. immutabilis Albatrosses.

At risk of flooding: a Short-tailed Albatross Phoebastria albatrus pair on Kure Atoll, photograph by Cynthia Vanderlip

At the time of writing, the highest tsunami wave from the 29 July earthquake recorded by the tidal station at Midway Atoll was 1.8 m.  It seems likely a similar height occurred at Kure Atoll.   Inhabitants on both atolls sheltered above the ground floor in buildings.

ACAP Latest News will continue to track and report on any effects of the tsunami on the Hawaiian albatross-breeding atolls as information comes to hand from those currently living on Kure and Midway.

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

Flesh-footed Shearwater on Lord Howe Island, photograph by Tim Reid

Megan Grant (Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Newnham, Australia) and colleagues have published open access in the journal Ecology and Evolution on Near Threatened Flesh-footed or Sable Shearwaters Ardenna carneipes adding nutrients via guano to their breeding sites on Lord Howe Island.

The abstract follows:

“Seabirds are long-range transporters of nutrients, linking their marine feeding grounds with their terrestrial breeding and roosting sites. Seabirds can influence the terrestrial environment in which they reside by depositing nutrient-rich guano, which acts as a natural fertiliser. Here, we determined the nutrient content of Sable Shearwater (Ardenna carneipes) guano and used stable isotope analysis to determine changes in isotope signals and nutrient concentrations through the terrestrial environment across three sites on Lord Howe Island, Australia: active shearwater colony, abandoned shearwater colony and un-colonised area. The concentration of nitrogen in Sable Shearwater guano was like other Procellariiformes, and this was reflected in the palm leaves and invertebrates (slugs) sampled from seabird colonies, which were enriched in δ15N relative to the control site. In contrast, nitrogen stable isotope values in soils were not significantly different among sites, indicating the presence of historic seabird colonies. Guano was rich in phosphorous and potassium, which fertilised soils in the shearwater colony compared to sites without seabirds present. It is expected that the island will experience a reduction in nutrient inputs from guano because the shearwater population is in decline, and this may result in changes to vegetation assemblages in the colonies over time.”

Reference:

Grant, M.L., Reichman, S.Z., Bond, A.L. & Lavers, J.L. 2025.  Seabirds enhance primary producer and consumer isotope signals on a sub-tropical island.  Ecology and Evolution 15(7) doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71636.

Black-footed Albatross and chick, sculpted by Isabelle Beaudoin

ACAP Latest News regularly carries articles that feature the links between art and science in relation to the conservation of ACAP-listed albatrosses and petrels.  Subjects covered include paintings and drawings (notably in collaboration with Artists & Biologists Unite for Nature (ABUN) to mark annual World Albatross Day on 19 June since 2020), public statuary and even cake baking.  Less frequently reported are sculptures. An example of a Black-footed Albatross Phoebastria nigripes modelled in clay by ACAP supporter Isabelle Beaudoin who recently spent time among albatrosses on Kure Atoll (Hōlanikūj) in the North Pacific follows, using her own words.

Isabelle poses with her sculpture prior to its painting

“Since I’m no longer out in the field every single day (though it will pick up again soon!), this page will on occasion be given over to other bird-themed content - like art!

What do you guys think of my clay Ka’upu (Black-footed Albatross) and chick?  This was my first time ever working with the clay medium, and it was challenging to shape the bird in 3D.  But I’d spent so many hundreds of hours watching Ka’upu from every angle that my eye knew what it was looking for, even if my hands and fingers didn’t always know how to render it.   I’m pretty happy with it though.  I started with a wire ‘skeleton’ or frame, so that the figure would be rigid and could stand; then I covered the wire with clay and shaped it until it looked right. I made a base, a nest bowl and a little baby chick.  I let all this air dry over a couple of weeks, then I painted them all, and glued tiny shells and moss- and grass-like things to the base.  A shoutout to Etasha Golden who provided me with all the materials (from the wire to the clay to the shells) and encouragement to embark on this project!  You can see her in the last [Facebook] photos helping me to set up a photoshoot.  I’ve named these two Derpy and Derpling, after a bird I met and named on the island.  They will live on my desk at the university.”

Wire skeleton prior to adding the clay

The sculpture prior to painting

Isabelle continues “I think about the atoll every single day.  Sometimes when I pause, and detach myself from the hubbub and stress of my life now, I can still hear faint echoes of them all around me. The albatross.   The notes of whinnies, whistles, bill-clacks, screams, moos and coos used to suffuse the air and weave themselves through me.  Day and night.  The longing I feel to be in their presence again is impossible to describe, and is stronger than what I’ve ever felt for humans.  Who knows why that is.  But I have to remember that they aren’t really gone.  They’re still all around me.  In my heart.  In my memories.  In the sky.  In the sea.   In the air. Making art like this makes them feel closer.”

Close up of the sculpture’s base, photographs by Isabelle Beaudoin

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 29 July 2025