125 Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatrosses reported stranded on Brazilian beaches in 2013

Fernando Azevedo Faria (Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, Brazil) and colleagues have published in the journal Waterbirds on a stranding of procellariiform seabirds in Brazil.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Mass strandings of seabirds occur frequently on many beaches worldwide and commonly involve penguins, petrels, shearwaters, and prions, among others.  Large numbers of stranded albatrosses are rarely reported.  In this paper, an unusual stranding event that involved five species of Procellariiformes, predominantly the Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross (Thalassarche chlororhynchos), is described in southern Brazil.  Carcasses and debilitated specimens of Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatrosses (n = 125), unidentified petrels/shearwaters (Procellariidae; n = 63), White-chinned Petrels (Procellaria aequinoctialis; n = 52), Great Shearwaters (Puffinus gravis; n = 11), Manx Shearwaters (Puffinus puffinus; n = 4) and Cory's Shearwater (Calonectris borealis; n = 1) were found stranded between 15 and 22 March 2013.  Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatrosses (n = 20) and White-chinned Petrel (n = 1) were found alive and remained in the rehabilitation center for a few days before being released.  A total of at least 256 birds were affected during the 8 days of the event, but a larger number likely remained undetected.  Rescued Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatrosses were not emaciated, and the causes of their stranding remain unknown.  Equal or greater numbers of stranded petrels had been recorded previously in the area, but strandings of a large number of albatrosses are unusual in southern Brazil and elsewhere.”

Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross, photograph by Peter Ryan

Click here for a report of another albatross stranding in Brazil.

Reference:

Faria, F.A., Burgueño, L.E.T., dos Santos Weber, F., de Souza, F.J.& Bugoni, L. 2014.  Unusual mass stranding of Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross (Thalassarche chlororhynchos), petrels and shearwaters in southern Brazil.  Waterbirds 37: 446-450.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 25 January 2015