An adult Short-tailed Albatross in flight, from the Yamashina Institute

Japan’s Yamashina Institute for Ornithology is seeking financial assistance via public donations to continue monitoring the breeding populations of  Vulnerable Short-tailed Albatrosses Phoebastria albatrus on the islands of Torishima and Mukojima.  The Institute writes “It is said that the population of these birds once numbered several million, however they were hunted to near extinction for their feathers.  A survey conducted in 1949 stated that the Short-tailed albatross had most likely gone extinct.  However, a mere 10 birds were found again in 1951 at the Izu Islands, and their numbers have recovered to around 7900 individuals by 2023, due to focused conservation efforts.  We are currently at a stage where the Short-tailed Albatross might be downlisted from the vulnerable to the near threatened category.  We are just a couple of steps away from achieving this goal.  We need your help and support for this final challenge, as we try to help the Short-tailed Albatross population recover to its past numbers.”

Short-tailed Albatross on Torishima, photograph by Hiroshi Hasegawa

In support of the appeal, Naoki Tomita, Yamashina Institute’s Short-tailed Albatross Project Leader for Torishima writes: “The Short-tailed Albatross resides at the top of the ocean food chain, and is a good representation of the health of the entire global ecosystem. Protecting this species will lead to protecting the environment in which so many other animals, including humans, depend on.  The continuation of the monitoring field surveys, is vital in continuing to protect the species that managed to miraculously survive at these isolated islands.  Together, let’s protect the ocean and the sky filled with albatrosses for the future generations.”

Two Short-tailed Albatross decoys deployed in the Hatsune-zaki colony site on Torishima, photograph by Rob Suryan

Mukojima Island Project Leader, Teru Yuta of the Yamashina Institute says that “ever since the Short-tailed Albatross conservation team started the project to increase the number of colonies of the Short-tailed albatross, many researchers, government officials, field workers, volunteers, research institutions, local governments and general companies around the globe, have passionately taken part in this project. As a result, the Mukojima Islands have changed from an island without any Short-tailed Albatross individuals, to a place where a few return and breed every year. It is a colony in its earliest stages, in other words ‘an albatross colony egg’. Until this egg hatches, grows up and takes flight…., until the Mukojima Islands becomes an established colony for a great number of albatross, we want to continue our conservation efforts and monitoring surveys. Your support is greatly appreciated.”

You can become a monthly supporter of Yamashina Institute’s Short-tailed Albatross Conservation Project and receive a monthly newsletter from here.

The Short-tailed Albatross was featured in Japan’s three-week celebration of this year’s World Albatross Day on 19 June (click here).  The species has also been featured in the ACAP Species Infographic series in support of WAD2024 – with a version in Japanese still to come.

With thanks to Ken Morgan, Short-tailed Albatross Recovery Team.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 18 July 2024

Loading the bait bucket on Amsterdam Island

At the end of May this year ACAP Latest News reported on preparations for the eradication of the introduced Norway Rats Rattus norvegicus and House Mice Mus musculus on France’s Amsterdam Island in the southern Indian Ocean by the aerial dispersal of rodenticide.  The project RECI (Restauration des écosystèmes insulaires de l’océan Indien; Restoration of Insular Ecosystems of the Indian Ocean) now reports that the first aerial bait drop of rodenticide-laced cereal bait pellets by helicopter has been completed: “air dispersing of bait began on June 7 and ended on June 25. Air spreading is the only effective method, adapted to the Amsterdam context, and tested for more than 30 years as part of the operation to eradicate rodents in the world.  In particular, this allows to treat areas that are difficult to access on the island (such as the cliffs of Entrecasteaux).  A second application is planned to guarantee access to bait for all rodents and potential young rodents not weaned on the first application. Weather permitting, it will start in the next few days!”

A close-up of the suspended bait bucket at a field loading station

In addition, rodenticide bait was spread by hand around the Martin-de-Viviès station, with baiting of interiors, ceiling and areas below buildings and field huts.  Monitoring the availability of bait took place in previously established quadrats distributed over the island.

A helicopter flies the bait bucket over the interior of Amsterdam Island

Information from the Facebook page of Terres australes et antarctiques françaises (TAAF).  Photographs by Lucie Pichot, TAAF.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 16 July 2024

An Endangered Sooty Albatross Phoebetria fusca in flight. Photograph by Stefan Schoombie

Lily K. Bentley (Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK) and colleagues have published open access in the Journal of Biogeography on how competition influences habitat preferences and niche segregation among Endangered Sooty Albatrosses and Near Threatened Light-mantled albatrosses, examining their foraging behaviour when living together and separately.

The paper’s abstract follows, 

“Aim

Competition is often proposed to drive niche segregation along multiple axes in speciose communities. Understanding spatial partitioning of foraging areas is particularly important in species that are constrained to a central place. We present a natural experiment examining variation in habitat preferences of congeneric Southern Ocean predators in sympatry and allopatry. Our aim was to ascertain consistency of habitat preferences within species, and to test whether preferences changed in the presence of the congener.

Location

Southern Hemisphere.

Taxon

Multiple colonies of both species within the genus Phoebetria (sooty albatrosses).

Methods

The two Phoebetria albatrosses breed on islands located from ~37–55°S – sooty albatrosses (P. fusca) in the north and light-mantled albatrosses (P. palpebrata) in the south – with sympatric overlap at locations ~46–49°S. We analysed GPS and PTT tracks from 87 individuals and multiple remotely sensed environmental variables using GAMs, to determine and compare the key factors influencing habitat preference for each species at each breeding colony.

Results

While foraging habitat preferences are consistent in light-mantled albatrosses, there is divergence of preferences in sooty albatrosses depending on whether they are in sympatry with their congener or in allopatry.

Main Conclusions

This study represents the most comprehensive work on this genus to date and highlights how habitat preferences and behavioural plasticity may influence species distributions under different competitive conditions.”

Reference:

Bentley, L. K., Phillips, R. A., Carpenter-Kling, T., Crawford, R. J. M., Cuthbert, R. J., Delord, K., Dilley, B. J., Makhado, A. B., Miller, P. I., Oppel, S., Pistorius, P. A., Ryan, P. G., Schoombie, S., Weimerskirch, H., & Manica, A. (2024). Habitat preferences of Phoebetria albatrosses in sympatry and allopatry. Journal of Biogeography, 00, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.14966

15 July 2024

 
From the publication

Francesco Ventura (Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, USA) and colleagues have published in the journal Current Biology on the Vulnerable Desertas Petrel Pterodroma deserta moving towards tropical cyclones during foraging trips.

The paper’s summary follows:

“In late summer and autumn, the passage of intense tropical cyclones can profoundly perturb oceanic and coastal ecosystems. Direct negative effects on individuals and marine communities can be dramatic, especially in the coastal zone, but cyclones can also enhance pelagic primary and secondary production. However, cyclone impacts on open ocean marine life remain poorly understood. Here, we investigate their effects on the foraging movements of a wide-ranging higher predator, the Desertas petrel (Pterodroma deserta), in the mid-latitude North Atlantic during hurricane season. Contrary to previously studied pelagic seabirds in tropical and mid-latitude regions, Desertas petrels did not avoid cyclones by altering course, nor did they seek calmer conditions within the cyclone eye. Approximately one-third of petrels tracked from their breeding colony interacted with approaching cyclones. Upon encountering strong winds, the birds reduced ground speed, likely by spending less time in flight. A quarter of birds followed cyclone wakes for days and over thousands of kilometers, a behavior documented here for the first time. Within these wakes, tailwind support was higher than along alternative routes. Furthermore, at the mesoscale (hours–weeks and hundreds of kilometers), sea surface temperature dropped and surface chlorophyll sharply increased, suggesting direct effects on ocean stratification, primary production, and therefore presumably prey abundance and accessibility for surface-feeding petrels. We therefore hypothesize that cyclone wakes provide both predictably favorable wind conditions and foraging opportunities. As such, cyclones may have positive net effects on the demography of many mid-latitude pelagic seabirds and, likely, other marine top-predators.”

Reference:

Ventura, F., Sander, N., Catry, P., Wakefield, E., De Pascalis, F., Richardson, P.L, Granadeiro, J.P., Silva, M.C. & Ummenhofer, C.C. 2024.  Oceanic seabirds chase tropical cyclones.  Current Biology doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2024.06.022.

12 July 2024