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Learn about Albatross
Hawaiian Common name:
ka' upu
English Common name: Black-footed Albatross
Japan Common name: Kuroashiahoudori
Genus: Phoebastria, previously
Diomedea
Species: nigripes
(Photo:Cordell Bank NMS)
Teacher Resources and Education Programs
Oikonos' Student Albatross
Activities
These supplemental teaching activities developed by Oikonos focus on teaching about Black-footed Albatross research, their fascinating life history, satellite tracking, lab-based scientific investigations and plastic pollution prevention
Signals
of Spring
Using NASA and other earth imagry to explain the migration of animals
tracked by satellites.
Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association Education Materials
The Association publishes a range of materials on Sanctuary topics
for use by educators and students. Scroll to "Slide Presentations"
to download a slide show for grades 9 - 12 on Albatross Natural
History.
Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary Seabird Education
Uses data from a recent tagging study to demonstrate the incredible
distances these birds travel to feed their chicks. Please contact
Jennifer Stock, Education Specialist at Cordell Bank National Marine
Sanctuary (jennifer.stock@noaa.gov)
for materials and new activities.
Wake Forest's Albatross Project
Educators can find lots of curriculum and activities associated
with albatrosses lengthy migrations at www.wfu.edu/albatross/
SeaTurtle.org
Dedicated to providing online resources and solutions in support
of sea turtle and seabird conservation
Conservation Links
BirdLife
International's Save the Albatross campaign
More information on longline fishing, other albatross species, and ACAP
IUCN
Red List of Threatened Species
Black-footed Albatross status has been upgraded
to "Endangered"
Natural History Links
BirdLife International Species Fact Sheet
51-Year-Old
Albatross Breaks North American Age Record
By James Owen, for National Geographic News, April
17, 2003
Conservation Status
The Black-footed Albatross has been recently upgraded by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to the "Endangered" status, on the basis of a projected future decline of more than 60% over the next three generations (56 years) based on present rates of incidental mortality in longline fisheries for tuna, billfish and groundfish in the north Pacific Ocean (Birdlife International 2003).
While potential threats to albatrosses include gillnets, plastic ingestion, and oiling; longlines impact these long-lived birds most severely (WPRFMC 2000).
Revised National Marine Fisheries Service bycatch estimates have revealed substantial albatross mortality off the West Coast of North America. In recent years (2001 - 2003), albatross bycatch rates in California-based longliners have soared with preliminary estimates of 272 - 628 birds hooked between October 2001 and February 2003 (Carretta, SWFSC, La Jolla, pers. comm.).
Additionally, bycatch estimates for international longline fleets operating in the high seas are unknown. Recent estimates suggest that the Black-footed Albatross population may be in fact declining at a faster rate than was previously thought, in part due to pelagic longline fisheries bycatch (Lewison & Crowder 2003). The worsening conservation status of this species warrants research into its habits and habitats, especially during the poorly-understood dispersal from island colonies (July - November).
Wandering Albatross (Diomedea exulans) drown if hooked upon depolyment of baited "longlines" that target tuna and other pelagic fish. (Photo: Graham Robertson)
What is Bycatch?
Bycatch is the word for all the nontarget organisms hauled from the ocean and discarded dead in fishery operations. The well publicized case of dolphins caught in tuna nets is one example. There are many others, including seabirds and sea turtles. Depending on the fishery, bycatch ranges from a minuscule percentage to a majority of the catch. Every year, tens of millions of tons of dead marine organisms, representing perhaps 25 percent of the world’s fishery catch, are dumped into the ocean.
Further Reading
·Seabirds and longlines: www.abcbirds.org/policy/seabird_report.PDF
·Seabird bycatch: www.wsg.washington.edu/publications/online/execsummary.pdf
The six species whose threatened status has been significantly upgraded according to IUCN Red List categories and criteria are:
* Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross
* Black-browed Albatross
* Black-footed Albatross
* Laysan Albatross
* Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross
* Amsterdam Albatross
Black-footed Albatross Natural History
The Black-footed Albatross is a large seabird, with a wingspan ranging from 6 to 7 feet. It has an average life span of 12 to 50 years and does not reach sexual maturity until 5 to 8 years of age. The Black-footed Albatross ranges throughout the North Pacific Ocean, from the Bering Sea to the tropics and from North America to Japan.
Breeding colonies are located in the central and western North Pacific Ocean: Hawaiian Islands, three outlying islands of Japan, and several other Pacific islands had historical breeding colonies but are now extirpated (Whittow 1993, Cousins 1998). One of the largest colonies is located on Midway Atoll (about 950 miles NW of Honolulu) and consists of about 20,200 breeding pairs (as of December 1998).
Albatrosses are mainly monogamous, rearing chicks with the same mate. If one of the mates should disappear or die, a new pair bond is created. Nests are made up of pieces of surrounding grasses, sand, or shrubbery. The majority of their nests are located near beaches. Breeding begins in early November. One egg is laid and incubation lasts about 65 days. Both male and female incubate the egg. Incubation starts with the females who usually stay for a short two day span. The male then takes over, sometimes as long as three weeks.
Black-foot chicks begin to hatch in mid-January. Chicks live on a diet of flying fish eggs and squid oil. Both adults feed the chick by regurgitation. The rich squid and stomach oil is filled with fatty acids and nutrients that can sustain a chick for a number of days while the parent goes out to sea in search of more food. Fledging occurs 4-5 months after hatching (June and July). Relying on their fat reserves, the chicks survive on land, practicing take-offs until they master flight.
Sub-adults return to their natal colony when three years of age but do not mate and nest until at least age five. The diet of the Black-footed Albatross consists mostly of squid, flying fish and their eggs, crustaceans, and other items found at the ocean surface (including floating debris). Unfortunately, these birds often ingest man-made material and flotsam including plastic trash, cigarette lighters, toothbrushes, etc. This is one of the most important causes of chick mortality. Chicks eat regurgitated plastic material from their parents, and this may block the gut and lead to starvation or dehydration of chicks.
The leading cause of adult mortality is associated with the long-line fishery. Albatross are attracted to floating prey, including the baited hooks set from long-line fishing vessels. From 1993 to 1999, at least 2,425 black-footed albatrosses were snagged or drowned in Alaska owing to bycatch in the long-line fishery. Efforts to reduce mortality from long-line fisheries include streamers (known as tori lines), which run from the stern of the boat and are intended to scare birds away from the baited hooks being deployed. The high rate of mortality of both adults and chicks has put these birds on the threatened species list of the IUCN (The World Conservation Union).
adapted from: BirdLife International 2003 BirdLife's online World Bird Database: the site for bird conservation. Version 2.0. Cambridge, UK: BirdLife International. Available: http://www.birdlife.org (accessed 28/6/2004)
Peer-Reviewed Papers
Baduini, C.L. 1997. Spatial and temporal patterns of zooplankton biomass in Monterey Bay, California, during the 1991-1993 El Niño, and an assessment of the sampling design. CalCOFI Reports 38:193-198.
Baduini, C.L., Lovvorn, J.R., & Hunt, G.L. 2001. Determining the body condition of short-tailed shearwaters: implications for migratory flight ranges and starvation events. Mar. Ecol., Prog. Ser. 222: 265-277.
Croxall, J.P., & Gales, R. 1998. An assessment of the conservation status of albatrosses. In: Albatross Biology and Conservation, (Ed.) Robertson, G. & Gales, R., pp. 46-65. Surrey Beatty & Sons, Chipping Norton.
Hyrenbach, K.D., Dotson, R.C. 2001. Post-breeding movements of a male black-footed albatross Phoebastria nigripes. Mar. Ornithol. 29, 23-26.
Hyrenbach, K.D., and Dotson, R.C. 2003. Assessing
the susceptibility of female Black-footed Albatross (Phoebastria
nigripes) to longline fisheries during their post-breeding dispersal:
an integrated approach. Biol. Conserv. 112, 391-404.
Hyrenbach, K.D., Fernández, P., Anderson, D.J.
2002. Oceanographic habitats of two sympatric North Pacific albatrosses
during the breeding season. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 233, 283-301.
Lewison, R. & Crowder, L.B. 2003. Estimating fishery bycatch and effects on a vulnerable seabird population. Ecological Applications 13 (3): 743-753
NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS).
2003. A biogeographic assessment off north / central California:
to support the joint management plan review for Cordell Bank, Gulf
of the Farallones, and Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuaries:
Phase 1 prepared by NCCOS's Biogeography Program in Cooperation
with the National Marine Sanctuary Program Silver Spring, MD.
NOS (National Ocean Service). 2003. State of the sanctuary
report 2002-2003. NOAA, Washington, D.C.
| March 2006 |
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