Amsterdam Island from the air, photograph by Thierry Micol

Célia Lesage (Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises, Saint-Pierre, France) and colleagues have published in the journal Polar Biology on a seabird survey conducted on France’s sub-Antarctic Amsterdam Island over 2021/22, prior to the 2024 eradication effort directed at alien rodents.  The island’s three breeding albatrosses were included in the survey with counts of occupied nests (Amsterdam Diomedea amsterdamensis 65 pairs, Sooty Phoebetria fusca 515 pairs, Indian Yellow-nosed Thalassarche carteri 29 671 pairs.)

The paper’s abstract follows:

“An invasive predator eradication campaign is planned for 2024 on Amsterdam Island, one of world’s top priority island for seabird conservation. In order to monitor the effects on seabird colonies post-eradication, a survey of burrow-nesting species and population monitoring of albatrosses, penguins, skuas and terns was organised pre-eradication. Several counting techniques and acoustic methods were used to infer presence/absence of burrow-nesting species and to estimate abundance of other species, as well as genetic methods for species identification. In total 14 breeding (or probably breeding) seabird species were detected on Amsterdam Island, among which eight burrowing petrels including two species never described on the island: the Juan Fernandez petrel Pterodroma externa and the sooty sherwater Ardenna grisea. Based on these new data, the introduced mammal eradication campaign on Amsterdam, if successful, will likely be extremely beneficial for seabird conservation, and may also favor the colonization of Amsterdam by new seabird species.”

Amsterdam Albatross – endemic to Amsterdam Island

Read about the completed eradication here.

Reference:

Lesage, C., Cherel, Y., Delord, K., D’orchymont, Q., Fretin, M., Levy, M., Welch, A. & Barbraud, C. 2024.  Pre-eradication updated seabird survey including new records on Amsterdam Island, southern Indian Ocean.  Polar Biology 47: 1093–1105. {PDF here]

03 October 2024

ACAP Executive Secretary Dr Christine Bogle meets with students visiting Projeto Albatroz's newly opened Marine Environmental Education and Visitation Centre in the coastal city of Cabo Frio

On her recent liaison visit to Brazil, ACAP Executive Secretary, Dr Christine Bogle was invited by Tatiana Neves, the CEO and Founder of the conservation NGO, Projeto Albatoz, to tour the organisation’s Marine Environmental Education and Visitation Centre. 

The Centre, located in the coastal city of Cabo Frio, aims to share knowledge about albatrosses and petrels, create awareness of the marine environment in which they live and the threats they are facing. 

Christine’s visit was the first from an intergovernmental organisation and was a highlight of her time in Brazil. During her visit to the Centre, she met with school students who presented their projects on various conservation issues, including the impact of plastic pollution on albatrosses. 

The event was covered by local media outlet InterTV RJ, who were reporting on the importance of seabird conservation, the positive impacts of environmental education, and the significance of global efforts to protect albatrosses and petrels.

ACAP Executive Secretary Dr Christine Bogle and Projeto Albatross CEO Tatiana Neves interviewed by Brazilian media outlet InterTV RJ on her visit to Projeto Albatroz's Marine Environmental Education and Visitation Centre

“It was a pleasure to visit the new Centre established by Projeto Albatroz in Cabo Frio”, said Christine. “It is so important to create awareness of these magnificent seabirds and their marine environment, and the Centre demonstrates Projeto Albatroz’s dedication to conservation efforts.”

Tatiana, who is also Vice-chair of ACAP's Advisory Committee, highlighted that while international collaboration has been key to conservation efforts for albatrosses and petrels, it is also important to engage children and young people in conservation issues. "Through environmental education and ocean literacy, we empower young people to be part of the solution to this problem, amplifying the conservation message within their homes, schools and friends, so everyone can protect the oceans with us."

During her visit Christine also witnessed the release of two rehabilitated White-chinned Petrels Procellaria aequinoctialis, an ACAP-listed species, further illustrating the tangible impact of conservation efforts.

Christine’s visit to Brazil underscores the importance of international cooperation in maintaining a favourable conservation status for albatrosses and petrels, reinforcing the need for continued efforts across national and international boundaries.

2 October 2024

A translocated Laysan Albatross egg gets a new owner, photograph by Hob Osterlund

Eric Vanderwerf (Pacific Rim Conservation, Honolulu, Hawai‘i, USA) and colleagues have reviewed the results of a foster egg translocation programme for Laysan Albatrosses Phoebastria immutabilis conducted on the Hawaiian island of Kauai in the open access journal Marine Ornithology.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“In the 1960s and 1970s, Laysan Albatrosses Phoebastria immutabilis colonized several sites in the Pacific from which they had been extirpated or had not been known to nest previously, including the US Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) on Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i, USA, where they increased to become a bird aircraft strike hazard (BASH). To reduce their population at PMRF, albatross eggs were destroyed or removed as part of a BASH reduction program until 2005, when an alternate plan was devised by the Navy, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and US Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services, in which eggs from PMRF were placed in foster nests at other colonies on Kaua‘i where the natural egg was infertile or had died. During 2009-2022, we placed 500 eggs from PMRF in foster nests on Kaua‘i and the Hawaiian island of O‘ahu. The egg viability rate in all colonies was 73% and varied among years. The hatching rate of foster eggs was 53%, fledging rate was 72%, and overall reproductive success was 38%, rates that were slightly lower than in natural eggs at the same sites. This project resulted in 189 fledged Laysan Albatross that otherwise would have died, and it helped solve a human-wildlife conflict. Several useful management techniques and egg translocation methods were developed during this project that can be used in similar projects with other seabirds.”

Click here for a related paper

Reference:

Vanderwerf, E.A., Young, L.C, Kohley, C.R., Behnke, J., Mcfarland, B., Finney, K., Osterlund, H., Murphy, J., Serota, A., Barnfield, L., Green, Y., Rogers, K.S. & Granholm, C. 2024.  Long -term outcomes of a Laysan Albatross Phoebastria immutabilis foster egg translocation program.  Marine Ornithology 52: 247-251.

01 October 2024

This Near Threatened Light-mantled Albatross Phoebetria palpebrata chick did not survive night-time attacks by introduced House Mice on Marion Island, photograph by Peter Ryan

The 14th Meeting (AC14) of the international Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP) was held in Lima, Peru over 12-16 August 2024.  In considering the report of its Population and Conservation Status Working Group (PaCSWG), which had met the previous week, the committee agreed that the ACAP best-practice Guidelines for Eradication of Introduced Mammals from Breeding Sites of ACAP-listed Seabirds, last updated in September 2019, should be reviewed in the light of new insights gained from recent attempts to eradicate House Mice Mus musculus from islands, noting particularly the failed eradications of House Mice on Gough Island and Sand Island, Midway Atoll.  The Advisory Committee agreed to add this task to its Work Programme for 2023-2025 (AC 14 Doc. 22 and Annex 5 Task 2.9 of the AC14 report).

Participants of the Fourteenth Meeting of ACAP's Advisory Committee in Lima, Peru.  South Africa’s Member, Dr Azwianewi Makhado, is fourth from the right in the front row, photograph by the ACAP Secretariat

The AC14’s decision to undertake the review was informed by South Africa’s Information Paper (PaCSWG8 Inf 07) to the working group reporting on progress with the Mouse-Free Marion (MFM) Project (click here) and a statement in its report (see AC14 6.10) from the United Kingdom to the working group that gave an update on the investigations by the Royal Society for the Protection of Bird’s Gough Island Restoration Programme into the recent failure to eradicate House Mice from that island.

A severely wounded Critically Endangered Tristan Albatross D. dabbenena chick after overnight attacks by House Mice on Gough Island, photograph by Karen Bourgeois/Sylvain Dromzee

South Africa, the United Kingdom and the USA, along with the PaCSWG and ACAP Science Officer, will participate in the planned review of the eradication guidelines during the intersessional period (AC 14 report Annex 6, Item 2.9).  South Africa will input  through its national member of the PaCSWG, Dr Azwianewi (Newi) Makhado (Oceans & Coasts, Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment).  The MFM Project will support Newi in this endeavour, thus helping ensure the guidelines take particular notice of the issues relating to the eradication of House Mice on islands, especially where they are the sole terrestrial predator and include seabirds in their diet, such as on Gough, Marion and Sand Island, Midway Atoll.  The MFM Project’s ongoing field research on Marion Island, including its plans for an aerial-based bait trial in 2026, will help formulate the guideline’s recommendations for planned and future mouse-eradication projects.

References:

Advisory Committee, Secretariat 2024.  Advisory Committee Work Programme 2023-2025. Fourteenth Meeting of the Advisory Committee, Lima, Peru, 12-16 August 2024.  AC14 Doc 22.  15 pp.

Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels 2024.  Report of the Fourteenth Meeting of the Advisory Committee, Lima, Peru, 14-16 August 2024.  92 pp.

Phillips, R.A. 2019.  Guidelines for Eradication of Introduced Mammals from Breeding Sites of ACAP-listed seabirds.  Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels.  10 pp.

Population and Conservation Status Working Group 2024.  Report of the Population and Conservation Status Working Group.  Fourteenth Meeting of the Advisory Committee, Lima, Peru, 12-16 August 2024.  AC14 Doc 14 Rev 2.  41 pp.

Wolfaardt, A. & Makhado, A. 2024.  An Update on the Mouse-Free Marion (MFM) Project.  Eighth Meeting of the Population and Conservation Status Working Group, Lima, Peru, 9 August 2024.  PaCSWG8 Inf 07.  3 pp.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer. Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 30 September 2024