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Ian and Georgina Strange of the New Island Conservation Trust have recently published on-line on the Trust's web site the results and their conclusions from two aerial surveys of Black-browed Albatrosses Thalassarche melanophris in the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)* in the South Atlantic conducted in 2005 and 2010.

The report's abstract follows:

"This paper looks at a method of aerial photographic surveying to determine albatross populations in the Falkland Islands.  The survey takes a specific category of birds: adult individuals returning to their colonies as breeders or potential breeders at the commencement of a season.  By taking such a category, a more accurate and meaningful baseline for a total population is obtained.  The paper raises questions on the value and accuracy of some generally accepted ground survey methods used elsewhere and which have been introduced to the Falkland Islands to assess population size.  It discusses whether such methods are being used with sufficient consideration to "ground level values" in the Falklands' environment and the species, which have adapted to it.  It questions whether now that aerial photography has advanced to a high level of precision, these methods should be re-evaluated.  Extrapolation is a commonly used factor in many ground survey methods; the paper questions the need to estimate the value or measurement through such a component, when a simpler form of survey methodology with higher accuracy, resulting in less error, can be used to assess a total population.  The results of two aerial photographic surveys carried out in 2005 and 2010 of all breeding sites of Black-browed albatross (Thalassarche melanophris) in the Falkland Islands are given.  Comparisons are made between these two surveys, including some figures from a 1986 survey, showing a continuing upward trend in the Falkland Islands' population of Black-browed albatross."

Black-browed Albatrosses from the air on Elephant Jason Island, Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)*
Photograph by Ian Strange

Black-browed Albatrosses breeding on Bird Island, Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)*
Photograph by Georgina Strange

Reference:

Strange, I. & Strange, G. 2011.  Black-browed Albatross Thalassarche melanophris.  Aerial Photographic Survey Methodology: Advantages over Ground Surveying in the Falkland Islands.  Results and Comparisons with Surveys in 2005 and 2010.  Stanley: New Island Conservation Trust.  30 pp.

Click here for an earlier report by the New Island Conservation Trust on Black-browed Albatross numbers.

With thanks to Ian and Georgina Strange for information and photographs.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 10 January 2012

*A dispute exists between the Governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (Islas Georgias del Sur y Islas Sandwich del Sur) and the surrounding maritime areas.