The Marion Island meteorological and research base; photograph by Anton Wolfaardt

Note:  The Mouse-Free Marion Project aims to rid South Africa’s sub-Antarctic Marion Island of its albatross- and petrel-killing House Mice.  Initially planned to take place in 2023, the MFM Project Manager, Anton Wolfaardt explains why the eradication attempt is now planned for 2024.  This news article was originally posted to the project's website on 26 October.  It is reposted here with permission.

“One of the critical issues that the Mouse-Free Marion (MFM) Management Committee has been discussing recently is the timing of the baiting operation.  Although we were initially working towards an operation taking place in the austral winter of 2023, we have always understood that this is a very ambitious target date and, consequently, that the operation may need to be deferred to 2024.

After extensive and considered discussions regarding the time required to raise the necessary funds and for the multitude of planning, regulatory and procurement processes, the MFM Management Committee recently recommended that the baiting operation be deferred to 2024. This recommendation has been endorsed by the MFM Project Steering Committee and the respective partner organisations.

A deferral of the operation to 2024 does not represent a pause in the project work. Rather, it provides additional, much needed, time to complete our planning and preparations to a level that will maximise the likelihood of a successful eradication outcome.

Operational year postponements are not unusual in such large-scale and highly complex eradication projects and are generally a result of a considered assessment of likely readiness for the initial intended operational year. One of the common factors in successful eradications is that the quality and level of detail of the planning largely determines the quality and success of the outcome. This is partly a reflection of the time available to complete the requisite planning. Rushed planning tends to lead to items being overlooked, or planning not being fully completed, and usually has ramifications once on the island. The additional time also relieves pressure on the fundraising target, enabling more time for fundraising to be progressed whilst project planning continues. Conducting the baiting operation in 2024 gives us a better chance to bring all the required regulatory, logistical, procurement and fundraising needs to completion at the same point of readiness than if we were to aim for a 2023 operation.

We are very grateful for all the interest and support the MFM Project continues to receive. We look forward to keeping you informed of our progress in working towards the goal of saving Marion Island’s seabirds and facilitating the ecological restoration of this globally important island.

You can help save Marion Island’s seabirds by donating to the ‘Sponsor-a-Hectare’ crowdfunding initiative.”

Dr Anton Wolfaardt, Mouse-Free Marion Project Manager, 28 October 2021

White-chinned Petrel, watercolour for ACAP by Anju Rajesh of Artists & Biologists Unite for Nature (ABUN)

Cristiane Kolesnikovas (Associação R3 Animal, Vermelho, Florianópolis-Santa Catarina, Brazil) and colleagues have published in the open-access journal Marine Ornithology on two mass strandings of globally Vulnerable White-chinned Petrels Procellaria aequinoctialis in Brazil.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Bycatch is a significant threat for albatrosses and petrels in general but especially within Brazilian waters. As part of a monitoring program, Projeto de Monitoramento de Praias da Bacia de Santos (PMP-BS), an unusually high number of White-chinned Petrels Procellaria aequinoctialis was recorded at Santa Catarina Island: 72 birds from August 2015 to July 2016 (60 dead and 12 alive) and 31 birds from 29 December 2015 to 05 January 2016 (28 dead and 3 alive). Evaluation of the carcasses showed that 12 birds had external evidence of anthropogenic interaction, and necropsy demonstrated that at least two had perforation of internal organs due to hook attachment. Hooks were identified as the type used by the Itaipava fleet. This fleet targets dolphinfish Coryphaena hippurus; tunas Thunnus obesus, T. alalonga, and T. albacares; and swordfish Xiphias gladius, and it typically operates in waters off southeastern Brazil. Although Brazil has strict laws to prevent albatross and petrel bycatch, enforcing bycatch mitigation measures has been a challenge. It is crucial to understand the dynamics of threats and their effects on populations, especially in terms of mass mortalities. For now, beach surveys can at least document the incidence of this problem.”

Reference:

Kolesnikovas, C.K.M., Ferreira, E.C., Assumpção, C.C.A. & Serafini, P.P. 2021.  Unusual mass stranding event of White-chinned Petrels Procellaria aequinoctialis in Santa Catarina State, southern Brazil.  Marine Ornithology 49: 183-187.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 27 October 2021, corrected 18 December 2021

 
Left and centre: Scopoli's, right Cory's; from the publication

Robert Flood (FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa) and Ricard Gutiérrez have published in the open-access journal Marine Ornithology on separating Scopoli's Calonectris borealis and Cory's C. diomedea Shearwaters from ther underwings.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“The genus Calonectris contains four species: Streaked Shearwater C. leucomelas (which breeds in the North Pacific mainly on islands off Korea, Japan, and Taiwan), Scopoli's Shearwater C. diomedea (which breeds mainly in the Mediterranean Sea), Cory's Shearwater C. borealis (which breeds mainly on islands in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean), and Cape Verde Shearwater C. edwardsii (which is an endemic breeder of the Cape Verde Islands).  In this study, we were concerned with the field separation of the cryptic pair Scopoli's Shearwater and Cory's Shearwater, only briefly considering the more easily recognised Streaked Shearwater and Cape Verde Shearwater.  Background information is summarised in Appendix 1, available on the website).”

Reference:

Flood, R.L. & Gutiérrez, R. 2021.  Field separation of Cory's Calonectris borealis and Scopoli's C. diomedea Shearwaters by underwing pattern. Marine Ornithology 49: 311-320.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 26 October 2021

Antipodean Albatross, artwork by Kitty Harvill of ABUN for ACAP, from a photograph by Kirk Zufelt

Samhita Bose and Igor Debski (Department of Conservation, Wellington, New Zealand) have reported to the department’s Conservation Service Programme on the second year of satellite tracking Nationally Critical and globally Endangered Antipodean Albatrosses Diomedea antipodensis from Antipodes Island to ascertain overlap with fisheries.

The report’s abstract follows:

“Bycatch in fisheries has been identified as the greatest known threat to the endangered Antipodean albatross (Diomedea antipodensis antipodensis), which is declining at 5% per year. Tracking birds to quantify overlap with fishing activity posing bycatch risk and identifying relevant fleets is a key conservation management task for the recovery of this population. We report on the second year of intensive satellite tracking, with 40 tags deployed on adult females and males during 2020, supplementing 63 tracked birds in 2019 (consisting of adult males, adult females, and juveniles). For each bird location obtained, we estimated the daily overlap with fishing effort, using individual vessel data derived by Global Fishing Watch from vessel monitoring systems. We made refinements to methods used to report on the 2019 tracking, including the use of updated fishing effort data sets and improved bird location filtering. Tag longevity was more consistent in 2020, providing information over the entire austral winter when most overlap with fishing activity occurs. These methods allowed us to quantify the overlap by geographic or jurisdictional area, year, season, and fishing fleet.

Over both years, overlap with fishing activity was highest for pelagic longline fishing effort, primarily in the high seas of the Western Pacific, particularly in the mid-Tasman Sea and north-east of New Zealand. Adult females had higher overlap with pelagic longline fishing effort compared to males, which corresponded to recent research showing a higher relative reduction in female survival as an important driver of the Antipodean albatross population decline. Overlap by flag-state fleet showed that the same key fleets overlapped Antipodean albatross in both years. Some individual vessels overlapped with as many as one third of tracked Antipodean albatross in either year. In 2020, foraging ranges of birds extended further north than in 2019, with birds travelling up to 21°S, where there are no mandatory requirements for seabird bycatch mitigation use by relevant Regional Fisheries Management Organisations. Individual birds may overlap with as many as 88 different pelagic longline fishing vessels per year, increasing their potential exposure to bycatch risk. A range of effective and proven seabird bycatch mitigation options are readily available, and we identified the ports used by vessels that overlapped with tracked birds to facilitate bycatch reduction outreach efforts to these vessels.

Further tracking of Antipodean albatross in 2021 and beyond will provide for an expanded dataset to further improve our understanding of interannual variation and provide greater certainty on the range of fisheries that may pose potential bycatch risk to this endangered seabird.”

Access the previous report for 2019 from here.

See the newly released ACAP/DOC infographic for the beleaguered Antipodean Albatross and click here to view a graphic depiction of the interactions of tracked juvenile Antipodean Albatross White 44J from Antipodes Island with the Taiwanese longliner Kuan Huang Fa that ultimately led to her demise.

Reference:

Bose, S. & Debski, I. 2021.  Antipodean albatross spatial distribution and fisheries overlap 2020.  Wellington: Department of Conservation.  36 pp.  A set of supplementary data tables containing input data and detailed overlap results are available on request.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 25 October 2021