Registration is now open for the Island Invasives 2026 Conference to be held in Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa New Zealand over 9-13 February 2026.

“Island Invasives 2026 marks the fourth event in the global conference series that began in Auckland in 2001.  Returning to its original home for its 25th anniversary, the conference remains focused on the complete eradication of invasive species from islands and island-like ecosystems.   Experts and practitioners from worldwide will present their work, which will be published in peer-reviewed proceedings, and participate in exciting field trips and networking opportunities.

A concession discount is available to mid to low-income countries, and all students. View eligible countries here.

We look forward to welcoming you to Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland in 2026”

The call for submissions of abstracts is still open.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 18 April 2025

The International Whaling Commission is looking for a Bycatch Coordinator within the Secretariat who, in consultation with the Standing Working Group and Expert Panel, will coordinate and implement the programme of work for the Bycatch Mitigation Initiative.  The Coordinator will provide advice to the Commission, liaise and exchange information with other inter-governmental organisations, and will help governments to address issues relating to bycatch and in particular its mitigation.

The successful applicant will have excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to develop effective relationships with a wide range of stakeholders in a politically sensitive environment.  He/she will have demonstrable professional experience in biological sciences, marine conservation and threats to cetaceans.  He/she will be fluent in English.

This post is advertised on a fixed term basis until 31 December 2026, with a possibility of extension subject to confirmation by the Commission.

For more information about the vacancy and application details visit IWC Vacancies.

Secregtariat, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels. 17 April 2025

The Laysan Albatross chick with an oyster band around its upper mandible

Isabelle Beaudoin, a seabird biologist currently on Kure Atoll (Hōlanikū ) in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, writes a weekly blog on her observations and thoughts for the Facebook page of the Kure Atoll Conservancy.  Her latest article follows on from a recent report in ACAP Latest News describing how she saved a Laysan Albatross or mōlī Phoebastria imuutabilis chick by removing an ingested balloon.  Now she reports on another Laysan Albatross chick that had manged to get its beak entangled with an oyster band or ring.

Isabelle writes:

“Another bird had their lucky break this week.  When Tlell [colleague on Kure] was doing a duck check … she came upon a mōlī chick with a bright green oyster ring wrapped around its upper bill mandible.   These birds are attracted to bright-coloured objects and frequently pick up bright pieces of plastic on the ground to mouth them, sort of like a puppy does to investigate their world.  They often, for example, come up to my sandals and nibble the brightly coloured flagging tape I have on them to distinguish them as mine, and they will come up to nibble at bright yellow buckets that I put down for laundry.  These oyster rings are all over the ground on Hōlanikū, because albatross adults mistake them for food out at sea and bring them back to be fed to chicks.  The chicks then eventually either cough them up as a bolus, or they die, and the oyster ring stays on the ground for more chicks to pick up.  This chick had gotten the ring wedged around its bill, and Tlell was able to get it off the bird.”

In 2023 “Plastic Pollution” was ACAP‘s theme for World Albatross Day on 19 June. Bothe entangling with and ingestion of plastic items continue to be a problem for the world’s albatrosses.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels. 16 April 2025

Wandering Albatross in flight, photograph by Kirk Zufelt

Yusuke Goto (Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, Japan) and colleagues have published online in the journal PNAS on comparing the flying strategies of Wandering Albatrosses Diomedea exulans with the sailing strategies of racing yachts in the Southern Ocean.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“The way goal-oriented birds adjust their travel direction and route in response to wind significantly affects their travel costs.  This is expected to be particularly pronounced in pelagic seabirds, which utilize a wind-dependent flight style called dynamic soaring.  Dynamic soaring seabirds in situations without a definite goal, e.g. searching for prey, are known to preferentially fly with crosswinds or quartering-tailwinds to increase the speed and search area, and reduce travel costs.  However, little is known about their reaction to wind when heading to a definite goal, such as homing.  Homing tracks of wandering albatrosses (Diomedea exulans) vary from beelines to zigzags, which are similar to those of sailboats. Here, given that both albatrosses and sailboats travel slower in headwinds and tailwinds, we tested whether the time-minimizing strategies used by yacht racers can be compared to the locomotion patterns of wandering albatrosses.  We predicted that when the goal is located upwind or downwind, albatrosses should deviate their travel directions from the goal on the mesoscale and increase the number of turns on the macroscale.  Both hypotheses were supported by track data from albatrosses and racing yachts in the Southern Ocean confirming that albatrosses qualitatively employ the same strategy as yacht racers.  Nevertheless, albatrosses did not strictly minimize their travel time, likely making their flight robust against wind fluctuations to reduce flight costs.  Our study provides empirical evidence of tacking in albatrosses and demonstrates that man-made movement strategies provide a new perspective on the laws underlying wildlife movement.”

Reference:

Goto, Y., Weimerskirch, H., Fukaya, K., Yoda, K., Naruoko, M. & Sato, K. 2024.  Albatrosses employ orientation and routing strategies similar to yacht racers.  PNAS 121 No. 23 e231285112.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 15 April 2025