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Dimas Gianuca (Projeto Albatroz, Brazil) and colleagues, writing in English in the journal Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia report sightings of "shy-type" albatrosses Thalassarche cauta/steadi in the South Atlantic off the coast of Brazil.  Their paper includes photographs of birds at sea.

An English translation of the paper's abstract follows:

"According to actual taxonomy, the species formerly known as Diomedea cauta cauta comprise two species: Thalassarche steadi and T. cauta.  These albatrosses, due to their morphological resemblance, are frequently referred as shy-type or T. steadi/cauta, and are among the least known albatrosses in the south-western Atlantic.  There are only three records of this complex in Brazil; all of the birds were found dead.  This study brings new records of T. steadi/cauta for Brazil obtained on board longline vessels operating in southern Brazilian waters. Between 2005 and 2011 up to seven T. steadi/cauta were observed and photographed at sea, with one individual incidentally captured in longline gear; its head was latter deposited in the Zoological Museum of the University of São Paulo.  Records were made in September (n = 4), May (n = 1), and in August (n = 2); all of them were recorded on the continental shelf, along the states of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina.  The majority of the albatrosses observed were immature, with one adult recorded in August 2011. Immature T. steadi/cauta birds have being regularly seen in Uruguayan waters.  Thus, its occurrence along the state of Rio Grande do Sul was expected.  The records presented here add to the recent body of evidence that individual T. steadi/cauta, mainly immature birds, frequent waters of the south-western Atlantic, where some of them get entangled in pelagic longliners in both Brazilian and Uruguayan waters."

Shy Albatross.  Photograph by Richard Phillips

Click here to read about earlier records of "shy-type" albatrosses in South American waters.

Reference:

Gianuca, D., Peppes, F.V. & Neves, T. 2011.  New records of "shy-type" albatrosses Thalassarche steadi/cauta in Brazil.  Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia 19: 545‑551.

With thanks to Juan Pablo Seco Pon, ACAP South American News Correspondent for the paper alert and for providing a translation of its Portuguese summary.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 14 January 2012