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With the Albatross and Petrel Agreement meeting in Ecuador this year, opportunity is being taken by several members of the ACAP Secretariat to visit the relatively nearby Galapagos Islands, home of the Critically Endangered Waved Albatross Phoebastria irrorata, as well as of many other endemic birds.

Although several of the secretarial staff have elected to visit the Galapagos after to the ACAP meetings in Guayaquil, ACAP's honorary Information Officer needed to go in advance, as I leave near-immediately after the ACAP Advisory Committee meeting on my annual field visit to Gough Island in the South Atlantic.

Realizing a long-standing ambition, I spent a few hours within the albatross colony at Punta Suarez on Española Island in the Galapagos on 19 August.  There were not many adults ashore as the guard stage was over, but a number of downy chicks of varying sizes and a displaying adult pair put on a good show as did birds taking off from and flying along the coastal cliff.  Definitely memories to savour and to keep!

The Sixth Meeting of ACAP's Advisory Committee will be considering an Action Plan for the Waved Albatross at its Sixth Meeting next week.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 24 August 2011