An infographic in the ACAP Species series has been produced for the globally Vulnerable and Nationally Vulnerable Diomedea epomophora in the three official ACAP languages of English, French and Spanish. The latest infographic has been sponsored by the Norwegian Environment Agency and joins infographics previously produced for 12 albatross species.

The ACAP Species Infographic series has been designed to help inform the general public, including school learners, of the threats faced by albatrosses and petrels and what is being and can be done to combat them. They serve to complement the more detailed and referenced ACAP Species Assessments, the concise and illustrated ACAP Species Summaries and the ACAP Photo Essay series. English and Portuguese* language versions of infographics are available to download here. French and Spanish versions can be found in their respective language menus for the website under Infographies sur les espèces and Infographía sobres las especies.

All the 13 infographics produced to date may be freely downloaded at a high resolution to allow for printing professionally in two poster sizes (approximately A2 and A3). Please note they are only being made available for personal use or when engaging in activities that will aid in drawing attention to the conservation crisis faced by the world’s albatrosses and petrels – when ACAP will be pleased to receive a mention. They should not be used for personal gain.

The ACAP Species Infographics have all been created by Thai illustrator Namasri ‘Namo’ Niumim from Bangkok. Namo is a graduate of the School of Architecture and Design, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communication Design. Two more ACAP Infographics are currently in production, for the Grey Petrel Procellaria cinerea and the White-chinned Petrel P. aequinoctialis. The former has been sponsored by the Australian Antarctic Program.

With thanks to ‘Pep’ Arcos, Barry Baker, Karine Delord, Johannes Fischer, Anne Martinussen and Chris Robertson for their help.

*Being produced for those ACAP-listed species that regularly visit waters off Brazil. To date, these are the Tristan Albatross D. dabbenena and the Black-browed Albatross Thalassarche melanophris.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 26 October 2023

Figure 2 from the paper: Habitat suitability estimates for (a) Antarctic krill (E. superba) and (b) Ice krill (E. crystallorophias). (c) Comparison of estimated habitat based on species-specific HSMs using 0.40 and 0.46 as binary cut-off maximizing the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) for Antarctic krill and Ice krill, respectively. The PF, SACCF, and >10 d with sea ice coverage each year (ICE) are illustrated in (a–c) as stippled, solid black, and dotted lines, respectively (Park et al., 2019). (d) Observational data distribution (presences and absences) for the two species used to model species-specific HSM, including CCAMLR MPA Planning Domains 1–9.

Research on the distribution of Antarctic krill and Ice krill in the Southern Ocean has shown distinct habitats between the two species. The study, “Quantifying circumpolar summer habitat for Antarctic krill and Ice krill, two key species of the Antarctic marine ecosystem”, published in the journal ICES Journal of Marine Science, was conducted by Benjamin Merkel (Akvaplan-niva As, Fram Centre, Tromsø, Norway) and colleagues.

The abstract follows:

“Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) and Ice krill (Euphausia crystallorophias) are key species within Southern Ocean marine ecosystems. Given their importance in regional food webs, coupled with the uncertain impacts of climate change, the on-going recovery of krill-eating marine mammals, and the expanding commercial fishery for Antarctic krill, there is an increasing need to improve current estimates of their circumpolar habitat distribution. Here, we provide an estimate of the austral summer circumpolar habitat distribution of both species using an ensemble of habitat models and updated environmental covariates. Our models were able to resolve the segregated habitats of both species. We find that extensive potential habitat for Antarctic krill is mainly situated in the open ocean and concentrated in the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean, while Ice krill habitat was concentrated more evenly around the continent, largely over the continental shelf. Ice krill habitat was mainly predicted by surface oxygen concentration and water column temperature, while Antarctic krill was additionally characterized by mixed layer depth, distance to the continental shelf edge, and surface salinity. Our results further improve understanding about these key species, helping inform sustainable circumpolar management practices.” 

Reference:

Merkel, B., Trathan, P., Thorpe, S., Murphy, E.J., Pehlke, H., Teschke, K. and Griffith, G.P. Quantifying circumpolar summer habitat for Antarctic krill and Ice krill, two key species of the Antarctic marine ecosystem, ICES Journal of Marine Science, Volume 80, Issue 6, August 2023, Pages 1773–1786, https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsad110

23 October 2023

Figure 2. from the study: Predicted impacts on top predator habitat within (columns, e.g., 2014) and among (rows, e.g., White shark) marine heatwave events measured using four metrics.
"A Displacement distance (kilometers), B displacement direction (degrees, where 0/360 is north (N), 90 is east (E), 180 is south (S), and 270 is west (W)), Crange compression or expansion (percent change relative to baseline conditions), D habitat area gain or loss (percent change relative to baseline conditions). All metrics were calculated from August–October in each MHW year relative to baseline conditions (August–October 2000–2020), see Supplementary Table 5 for an analysis of metric uncertainty. Northern, Coastal, and Southern regional groupings indicate the geographies where the majority of the species telemetry data occurs. Source data are provided as a Source Data file."

Heather Welch (NOAA, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Environmental Research Division, USA) and colleagues have published in the journal Nature Communications on the responses of top predators to marine heatwaves in the Northeastern Pacific.

The abstract follows:

“Marine heatwaves cause widespread environmental, biological, and socio-economic impacts, placing them at the forefront of 21st-century management challenges. However, heatwaves vary in intensity and evolution, and a paucity of information on how this variability impacts marine species limits our ability to proactively manage for these extreme events. Here, we model the effects of four recent heatwaves (2014, 2015, 2019, 2020) in the Northeastern Pacific on the distributions of 14 top predator species of ecological, cultural, and commercial importance. Predicted responses were highly variable across species and heatwaves, ranging from near total loss of habitat to a two-fold increase. Heatwaves rapidly altered political bio-geographies, with up to 10% of predicted habitat across all species shifting jurisdictions during individual heatwaves. The variability in predicted responses across species and heatwaves portends the need for novel management solutions that can rapidly respond to extreme climate events. As proof-of-concept, we developed an operational dynamic ocean management tool that predicts predator distributions and responses to extreme conditions in near real-time.”

Reference:

Welch, H., Savoca, M.S., Brodie, S. et al. Impacts of marine heatwaves on top predator distributions are variable but predictable. Nat Commun 14, 5188 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-40849-y

20 October 2023

The Mouse-Free Marion (MFM) Project is working to eradicate the introduced House Mice Mus musculus that have taken to attacking and killing albatrosses and petrels on South Africa’s sub-Antarctic Marion Island. Last week, the MFM Project released the 7th issue of its Quarterly Newsletter.

Leaping into spring on Marion Island. From left “birders” (ornithological researchers) Chris Jones, Mpumelelo Mabutyana, Michelle Risi and Kyle Maurer get airborne; photograph from Michelle Risi

In this latest issue you can read:

A Welcome Editorial by MFM Project Manager Anton Wolfaardt on the reasons why the eradication exercise is now set to take place in the austral winter of 2026 (read more on the postponemement here).

Announcement of three new International Patrons to join His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh and seabird author and illustrator Peter Harrison MBE. They are well-known Antarctic scientist and conservationist Professor Steven Loudon Chown FAA, South African businesswoman Gloria Tomatoe Serobe and Christel Takigawa, anchorwoman based in Japan.

Two overwintering researchers currently on the island write about their work. Camilla Smyth, MFM’s current field worker, describes her role in planning for the mouse eradication, and Michelle Risi writes about the welcome seasonal changes on Marion Island heading into austral spring.

Scalped by Marion’s mice. This Light-mantled Albatross Phoebetria palpebrata chick is certain to have died as a result, photograph by Peter Ryan

Access all MFM’s Quarterly Newsletters here. More information can be found in weekly posts to MFM News on the project’s website and on social media via Facebook and Instagram.  And you can become part of the project by sponsoring a hectare (or more), joining 1650 concerned conservationists who have already done so.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 19 October 2023