ACAP-listed and Vulnerable Spectacled Petrel Procellaria conspicillata; photograph by Peter Ryan

The ACAP Secretariat extends season’s greetings and its best wishes for an albatross- and petrel-friendly and a safe 2022 to all the readers of ACAP Latest News and to the over 5800 followers of the Agreement's Facebook page.

The Seventh Session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Agreement (MoP7), is planned to be held in Hobart, Australia from 9-13 May 2022, unless COVID-19 restrictions preclude a meeting in person, in which case MoP7 will be held virtually

In 2022 ACAP will continue to support World Albatross Day on 19 June for the third year with its chosen theme of Climate Change, producing new artworks, infographics and posters to celebrate the day.

Christine Bogle, John Cooper and Wiesława Misiak, ACAP Secretariat, 27 December 2021

During the egg swap, all eggs get "candled" for fertility

The annual egg-swap exercise has taken place once more on the Hawaiian island of Kauai by the environmental NGO Pacific Rim Conservation who write on their Facebook page:  “The week before Christmas is always a busy one for us.  During that week we receive up to 45 Laysan Albatross [Phoebastria immutabilis] eggs from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai, where the adults nest next to an aircraft runway.  Since large birds and large planes are a bad combination, we are given the eggs, and then they are placed in wild "foster nests" across Kauai and Oahu whose natural eggs have died.  We determine whether eggs are alive by candling them and looking for the embryo.

Egg swap in action on Oahu; photographs from Pacific Rim Conservation

Watch two short video clips by Hob Osterlund of Allene Henderson of Pacific Rim Conservation replacing a fertile egg after candling and replacing an infertile egg with a fertile one

https://www.facebook.com/hob.osterlund/videos/458034985868200

https://www.facebook.com/hob.osterlund/videos/410293000793815

Access previous egg swap posts here.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 24 December 2021

2021-12-24 00:00:00

Wisdom (Red Z333) on her nest site

Wisdom, the female Laysan Albatross Phoebastria immutabilis, who is the world’s oldest known banded wild bird, has been seen back on the USA’s Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in the North Pacific.  With an estimated minimum age of 70, she has now reached her eighth decade (click here).  Wisdom was first seen at her nest usual nest site on the atoll’s Sand Island -on 26 November, one day earlier than in 2020.  The last sighting of Wisdom around her nest cup was made on 5 December.

Wisdom does a wing stretch, photographs by Dragana Connaughton, Schoolyard Films

“There have been no observations of Akeakamai [her mate of the last few seasons] this year and no evidence of a nest cup; so it is unlikely that they will nest this year,” said Jon Plissner, Wildlife Biologist at Midway Atoll. “We will continue to monitor the area through the month of December, as a few new nest starts of Laysan Albatross can occur in December.”

“It is normal for albatrosses take a year off from parenting between chicks.  Wisdom and her mate have met on Midway Atoll to lay and hatch an egg almost every year since 2006.  It is estimated that Wisdom has laid between 30–36 eggs in her lifetime.  In 2018, her chick that fledged in 2001 was observed just a few feet away from her current nest, marking the first time a returning chick of hers has been documented.  The chick returned to the same area each year since then but this December was found 200 yards [180 m] away on a nest of its own.”

Access previous postings about Wisdom in ACAP Latest News here.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 23 December 2021

 Antipodean Albatross off North Cape, New Zealand, photograph by Kirk Zufelt

Last week New Zealand’s Ambassador to Spain, Nigel Fyfe, on behalf of the Department of Conservation and the Ministry for Primary Industries signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Spanish Vice President Teresa Ribera yesterday in Madrid, Spain to reduce seabird bycatch.  The MoU will promote the adoption of bycatch mitigation measures, in particular those set out in the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels.  The two nations will also share information and collaborate on research on seabird conservation.

“Highly migratory species may spend much of their time foraging in the high seas.  We can’t limit ourselves to protecting these taonga [treasure] species only when they are breeding on our islands or coast and foraging in our waters,” [New Zealand] Conservation Minister Kiritapu Allan said.

[New Zealand] Minister for Oceans and Fisheries David Parker said fishing in international waters posed a challenge to seabird species.  “Spain is a major fishing nation.  Together, New Zealand and Spain can play an important role in promoting best practice for seabird bycatch mitigation across the world.   This advocacy will help to protect our migratory seabirds in Pacific fisheries and beyond.”

The key actions in the MoU are to:

• Promote the adoption of bycatch mitigation measures, in particular those advised in the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP)
• Share information and collaborate on research on seabird conservation
• Cooperate in the implementation of the Antipodean Albatross Concerted Action

According to Live Ocean the MoU is designed to promote the adoption of best practice fishing methods, including using what is known as ‘three of out three’ – weighted lines, bird-scaring lines and night setting. It also includes a commitment by the two nations to advocate internationally to promote the uptake of these fishing methods (click here).

Three years ago, a similar partnership was established between New Zealand's Department of Conservation and the Ministry for Primary Industries and Chile's  Undersecretaria of Fisheries and Aquaculture and its Ministry of Environment (click here).

Read more here.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 22 December 2022