ACAP Latest News

Read about recent developments and findings in procellariiform science and conservation relevant to the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels in ACAP Latest News.

Plastic pollution in Northern Fulmars has decreased over the last 20 years

Arctic Fulmar
Northern Fulmar at sea

Susanne Kühn and Jan van Franeker (Wageningen Marine Research, Den Helder, the Netherlands) have written to ACAP Latest News on the findings of their lab’s long-standing work on plastic pollution in Northern Fulmars Fulmarus glacialis during 2023:

“In 2023 a total of 32 corpses could be recovered, of which 26 contained an intact stomach.  In addition we report on 6 birds found in 2021 and 2022 (5 with stomach) that arrived in our lab too late for inclusion in our earlier reports.  In order to avoid unstable annual variations, we always describe the ‘current situation’ in our monitoring analyses as the average over the past five years.  From 2019 to 2023 we studied a total of 231 stomachs of which 94% contained plastics, and 53% contained more than 0.1 g of plastic.  The international policy target is that this latter percentage has to be reduced to under 10%.  The average fulmar stomach currently contains 24 plastic particles, weighing 0.27 g.  Measured over the past 10 years, we cannot document a significant decline in ingested plastic mass.  However, the longer term trend 2002-2023 of annual proportions of birds exceeding the 0.1g level, does show a significant decline (p=0.027) predicting that the 10% policy target might be reached around the year 2087.”

A belly full of plastic

“More than 9 our of 10 beachwashed Northern Fulmars has plastic in the stomach.  Usually it concerns smaller quantities of some tenths of grams of plastic.  However, some birds have so much plastic in the stomach that at opening of the corpse the litter is immediately evident. This short video illustrates the exceptional [record] of a fulmar found during 2022 in the Netherlands”.

In 2023, ACAP adopted the theme of “Plastic Pollution” to mark World Albatross Day on 19 June.

With thanks to Susanne Kühn and Jan van Franeker, Wageningen Marine Research.

References:

Kühn, S., Meijboom, A., Bittner, O. & Van Franeker, J.A. 2024.  Fulmar Litter Monitoring in the Netherlands – Update 2023.  Wageningen Marine Research Report C042/24 and RWS Centrale Informatievoorziening Report BM 24.15.  Den Helder, The Netherlands. 54 pp.

Van Franeker, J.A., Kühn, S., Meijboom, A. & Bittner, O. 2024.  Fulmar Finders Information - Netherlands 2023.  Den Helder, The Netherlands:Wageningen Marine Research.  48 pp.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 09 December 2024

Cannibalism by Northern Giant Petrels on Possession Island

 Cannibalism paper

"Feeding sequence of a Northern Giant Petrel on the carcass of a conspecific chick at the colony of Petit Caporal, Possession Island, on 3 December 2021.   (a) Adults seen near the carrion at the beginning of our observation.  Ringed adult in the background showed agonistic behavior toward the closest adult. (b) Closest adult, with a monel ring on the left leg, approaching the chick with wings spread.  (c) Same adult dragging the carrion to feed on it.  (d) The adult tears off some flesh, showing the typical behavior of a scavenging giant petrel. (e) Carrion of the Northern Giant Petrel chick. The bill tip of the chick shows the typical red color of the Northern Giant Petrels.  Photo credits: Florent Sabatier". {Figure 1 from the publication)

Alexandre Vong (Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, Villiers en Bois, France) and colleagues have published open access in the journal Ecology on instances of cannibalism observed in Northern Giant Petrels Macronectes halli.

Their short paper concludes:

“We showed here with multiple records that cannibalism is clearly part of the feeding behavior of northern [giant] petrels and partly explains the occurrence of breeding failures at Possession Island.  Further research is needed to fully understand the role of cannibalism in the feeding repertoire of giant petrels and to identify the drivers underlying this behavior.”

With thanks to Karine Delord.

Reference:

Vong, A., Delord, K., Croizé, N., Lesage, C., Zubiri, L.L., Sabatier, F. & Barbraud, C, 2024.  Cannibalism in northern giant petrels (Macronectes halli) at Possession Island, Southern Indian Ocean.  Ecology doi.org/10.1002/ecy.4491.

06 December 2024

It's all in the genes: identifying seabird bycatch using DNA

visual abstract final.1600x900This graphical abstract shows how DNA sequencing can help discriminate between seabird species caught as bycatch, compared to visual methods of identification. Different parts of seabirds' genomes have sequences that are specific to each species, which can be targeted with the right DNA markers. Graphical abstract illustrated by Stacey McCormack [Visual Knowledge Pty Ltd] and supplied by Andrea Polanowski 

Andrea Polanowski (Australian Antarctic Division, Department of Climate Change, Energy, The Environment and Water, Australia) and colleagues have published open access in the journal Ecology and Evolution on the use of DNA in identifying seabird bycatch.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Incidental mortality in fisheries is a major driver of population declines for albatrosses and petrels globally. However, accurate identification of species can be difficult due to the poor condition of bycaught birds and/or visual similarities between closely related species. We assessed three genetic markers for their ability to distinguish the 36 albatross and petrel species listed in Annex 1 to the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP) and in Australia's Threat Abatement Plan (TAP) for the bycatch of seabirds during oceanic longline fishing operations. We generated 275 new sequences, from 29 species, to improve the coverage of reference databases for these listed species. The combined use of the selected Cytochrome b and Control Region markers enabled the identification of 31 of 36 listed seabirds to species level and four to sister species. One petrel species could not be evaluated as no reference sequences were available. We tested these markers on 59 feathers from bycaught seabirds and compared these to onboard visual identification. We successfully assigned all procellariiforms to species (n = 58), whereas only two seabirds were correctly identified to species visually onboard, highlighting the difficulty of visual species assignment and the need for alternative methods. We assessed the utility of our two chosen markers for the assignment of all procellariiform species, with 74% of species with reference sequences identified to species or sister species level. However, a precautionary approach is needed for application beyond our listed species due to unvalidated reference sequences. The approach described here provides a streamlined framework for the molecular identification of seabird bycatch. This approach is recommended for use in fisheries within and outside Australian waters to improve the resolution of bycatch reporting and to corroborate logbook entries, observer reports and audits of images captured by electronic monitoring systems as well as help inform conservation efforts.”

Reference:

Polanowski, A.M., MacDonald, A.J., Double, M.C., Barrington, J.H.S., Burg, T.M., Wienecke, B. & McInnes, J.C. 2024. The development of DNA markers to resolve uncertainties of seabird bycatch identification from longline fisheries in Australian waters.  Ecolology and Evolution 14: e70568.

05 December 2024

Watch the lives of a Northern Royal Albatross family with Season 10 of the “Royal Cam”

Royal Cam Season 10The male RLK incubating on the Signal Station Trig nest, photograph from the New Zealand Department of Conservation

Season 10 of “Royal Cam” has started in the mainland colony of Endangered Northern Royal Albatrosses Diomedia sanfordi at Pukekura/Taiaroa Head.  A new breeding pair has now been chosen to become the star of what has become a popular 24-hour streaming service.

The new pair are RLK (colour bands Red, Lime, Black), a 12-year-old male and GLG (Green, Lime Green), a14-year-old female.  This biennially-breeding pair first bred in 2019/20, but their egg failed.  They then successfully raised female chicks during the 2020/21 and 2022/23 breeding seasons.  In the current season GLG laid her egg on 11 November; it was candled and found to be fertile.  RLK and GLG will take turns to incubate the egg for 2.5 months before they have a new chick.

“Royal Albatross Cam - The new season begins, the parents are RLK and GLG”

Information from the Albatross Lovers Facebook page.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 04 December 2024

THE ACAP MONTHLY MISSIVE. Humour can help us live in the time of ecogrief and the global ecocide

Being a conservationist in the modern world is not always easy. Some of us can suffer from "ecological grief" - a deep emotional respose to the loss of the natural world due to climate change or environmental destruction. It can include feelings of despair, hopelessness, anxiety, and sadness. We live in a world where we are surrounded by examples of "ecocide", defined by a panel of international lawyers as  “unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts”.

I guess that I am fortunate in that my current conservation activities and interests are directed towards the protection of uninhabited islands on which seabirds breed, especially those that support ACAP-listed albatrosses and petrels in the Southern Ocean.  My roles as News Correspondent for the Mouse-Free Marion Project and as ACAP's Emeritus Information Officer have both given me the opportunity to follow, and to write about, the fortunes of many seabird islands from which introduced mammals, especially rodents and feral cats, have been eradicated, leading to the recovery of their ecosystems.  Most recently I wrote in ACAP Latest News of the truly remarkable changes that have occurred on Australia's Lord Howe Island after the removal of its alien rats and mice.  Such good-news stories are heartening to me and help combat the ecologcally bad news we are faced with on a daily basis.  They will have served their purpose if they do the same for my readers.
Lord Howe cartoon

Humour can help us get through personal, and increasingly global, bad times. The cartoon depicted here is entitled "Here’s an actual good news story! (unless you are a rodent)" by Tasmanian-based cartoonist First Dog on the Moon tells the story of Lord Howe Island's recovery after its "derodentification" far better than my words ever could. So I will just stop here and hope it helps you get through your day, as it did me!

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 03 December 2024

 

 

 

The Agreement on the
Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels

ACAP is a multilateral agreement which seeks to conserve listed albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters by coordinating international activity to mitigate known threats to their populations.

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