Turning the tide for the albatross
The world's most threatened group of seabirds
15 of the 22 albatross species are threatened with extinction
One third of the world's albatross population breeds on United Kingdom's Overseas Territories. Since 2004, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) has been working to keep these ocean wanderers safe.
Albatrosses are stunning birds and incredibly devoted parents. They can live for over 60 years and generally mate for life, laying only a single egg every year or every two years.
It can take a pair up to 12 months to raise their chick and to do so they must fly thousands of miles in search of food.
Black-browed albatross chick on nest waiting for parents to return with food.
Once the fledglings have left the nest, they spend several years at sea before returning to land to find a mate.
Since these birds spend most of their lives soaring over the ocean, understanding albatrosses' movements at sea is crucial for conservationists to know where to direct their efforts.
Tracking
Wandering albatross from South Georgia fitted with a tracking device.
By attaching tracking devices to albatrosses, scientists can learn a great deal about where individuals go and how they use the ocean. This provides vital information about the threats they face at sea.
Here you can see the tracks of Wandering albatrosses from the island of South Georgia in the South Atlantic, searching for fish and squid to bring back to their young. Foraging trips of this kind can last up to two weeks at a time and cover thousands of miles!
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Albatross on South Georgia
South Georgia is a UK Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic and home to four albatross species, including almost half of the world's Grey-headed albatross.
The RSPB is working with the British Antarctic Survey to track where juvenile albatrosses go when they leave this small island for the first time.
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Albatross on Gough Island
The RSPB also monitors albatross populations and their movements on Gough island.
This is another UK Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic and home to three albatross species, including the critically endangered Tristan albatross which is found nowhere else in the world!
Atlantic Yellow-nosed albatross on Gough Island with tracking device on its back.
Results from tracking studies show that albatrosses from UK Overseas Territories spend much of their time foraging in nutrient-rich waters off the coast of southern Africa, South America and on the High Seas (areas outside of countries National Jurisdictions). Inevitably, this brings them into contact with fishing vessels operating in these parts of the ocean.
The fishing fleets albatrosses are most likely to interact with, depends on where they go during different parts of the year and varies between species and age-classes. As shown in this map, Atlantic Yellow-nosed albatrosses rely greatly on the areas off the South African and Namibian coastlines while they are incubating, (between September and November) whereas Sooty albatrosses forage almost exclusively on the High Seas. Tristan albatrosses on the other hand, depend heavily on the seamounts around the islands on which they breed, particularly when they are feeding their chicks in April and May, and are thus more likely to interact with fishing vessels operating in this area of the South Atlantic.
Fisheries bycatch
Sadly, foraging albatrosses are often accidentally captured in fishing gear. This is known as bycatch and is the largest threat albatrosses face globally, affecting 95% of albatross species today.
It is estimated that at least 100,000 albatrosses are killed this way each year and fisheries bycatch is driving albatross population declines globally.
The main culprits are longline and trawl fisheries, which inadvertently attract albatrosses by using baited hooks, or discarding offal around the vessel as they process their catch.
For many albatrosses this easy meal becomes their last. As they engage in a feeding frenzy behind fishing vessels, albatrosses may be fatally struck by the trawl cables towing the net through the water or caught on baited hooks set by longline vessels.
But simple and inexpensive ways to prevent these deaths from occurring exist. These are called "bycatch mitigation measures" and the RSPB is working with crews all over the world to implement these onboard fishing vessels.
- Bird-scaring lines can be towed behind vessels to keep birds away from baited hooks and trawl cables.
- Night setting can significantly reduce bycatch, since most seabirds don’t actively forage in the dark.
- Line weighting makes baited longline hooks sink faster, thus reducing the window of opportunity for foraging seabirds to reach the bait and get caught.
The Albatross Task Force
Since 2005 our international team of dedicated seabird bycatch experts has been working with fishing crews to keep albatrosses safe in some of the world's deadliest fisheries for seabirds.
This involves spending time out at sea, away from friends and family for weeks at a time, and working with governments to implement regulations which ensure vessels are using seabird-friendly fishing techniques and best practice mitigation measures.
The Albatross Task Force is based in key countries across South America and southern Africa, where the overlap between foraging albatrosses and fishing vessels is particularly high.
Results from the Albatross Task Force's work show the art of the possible, with the South African hake trawl and Namibian longline fishery both having demonstrated seabird bycatch reductions of over 95% since we started working there!
As well as encouraging fishers to use best practice mitigation measures, we are working with target fleets to develop new mitigation measures and troubleshoot problems with existing ones, to facilitate their fleet-wide uptake.
With regulations requiring the use of seabird bycatch mitigation measures now in place in all of the Albatross Task Force's target fleets, we expect to achieve our target of reducing seabird bycatch by 80% in several fisheries across South America in the next few years!
On the High Seas
But albatrosses spend a lot of time outside national jurisdictions and need to be protected on the High Seas too. The RSPB’s work with the organisations that manage fishing on the High Seas has led to regulations being put in place requiring all tuna vessels fishing in areas overlapping with albatross to implement bycatch mitigation measures.
This map shows where Wandering albatross overlap most with fishing fleets - around South Africa and off the coast of South America.
Our research , done in collaboration with the British Antarctic Survey, has shown that South Georgia albatrosses have the highest overlap with Japanese and Taiwanese fleets on the High Seas.
As demonstrated by this track from our study of juvenile Grey-headed albatross from Bird Island, South Georgia - these birds travel such great distances that they must be protected on a global scale to ensure their survival!
We have been engaging with fleets through education work in ports, helping to improve mitigation measures, and developing a method to monitor use of night setting through an innovative collaboration with Global Fishing Watch.
Grey-headed albatrosses can circumnavigate the globe in a matter of months but face the threat of fisheries bycatch whilst out at sea.
Island Restoration
However, solving the issue of bycatch alone will not be enough to turn the tide for these ocean wanderers – we need to ensure they are kept safe once they return to land too.
The second largest threat to albatrosses is predation by invasive alien species at breeding sites, affecting over 60% of all albatross species.
The RSPB is working towards removing these impacts on Gough Island through a large and ambitious island restoration project .
Gough is a World Heritage Site, considered to be one of the most pristine environments left on earth and recognised by experts as one of the most important islands for seabirds in the South Atlantic.
But mice, introduced by accident over 200 years ago, are increasingly impacting the environment and the seabirds that breed on Gough Island.
Mice on the island are thought to be causing 2 million seabirds deaths each year and fledging success of the critically endangered Tristan albatrosses is extremely low as a result.
As well as attacking the eggs and chicks, RSPB scientists monitoring albatross populations on the island have recorded mice attacking adult birds, which threatens to accelerate population declines.
The RSPB continues to work with partners around the world to ensure that albatrosses are kept safe both on land and at-sea.
"Given their extensive ranges and myriad of threats they face, if we can succeed in turning the tide for albatrosses, then there's hope we can sort out more of the planet's problems" Rory Crawford, Bycatch Programme Manager at the RSPB.
Support our work
Albatrosses are under threat and need your help. They simply can’t breed fast enough to replace the numbers of individuals killed by fisheries out at sea and by mice at their breeding colonies. You can help prevent these needless deaths by supporting our work today.
Our work to protect endangered albatrosses around the world is only possible due to the generous support of our funders, the RSPB membership and many private donors. We would like to thank you for helping to ensure these majestic birds continue to soar over our oceans for generations to come!
To find out more about our work visit the Albatross Task Force and Gough Island Restoration pages.
With thanks to Richard Phillips and Caitlin Frankish (British Anatarctic Survey), Ben Dilley and Peter Ryan (FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, Univeristy of Cape Town), Trevor Glass (Conservation Department - Tristan da Cunha), Jaimie Cleeland (IMAS, University of Tasmania) and Tommy Clay (SEGUL, University of Liverpool) for sharing their data with us for the creation of this story map.
