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Species in News: Albatrosses
Context:
Conservationists announced plans to bomb a remote South African island with pesticide pellets to eradicate mice that are attacking albatrosses and other seabirds.
More on News:
Conservationists reported that mice on Marion Island, located about 2,000 kilometres southeast of Cape Town, are eating the eggs and even live birds of important seabird species.
About Albatrosses:
- Scientific Name: Diomedea Exulans
- Common Names: Wandering Albatross
- Family: Order Procellariiformes (tubenoses), which include fulmars, petrels, and shearwaters.
- There are 22 species grouped into four genera: Great Albatrosses (Diomedea), North Pacific Albatrosses (Phoebastria), Mollymawks (Thalassarche), and Sooty Albatrosses (Phoebetria).
- Wingspan: Up to 3.5 metres, the largest of any flying bird.
- IUCN status of Wandering Albatross – Vulnerable.
- Habitat: Range from Antarctica to South America, southern Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.
- Three species occur from Hawaii to Japan, California, and Alaska. The Waved Albatross breeds in the Galápagos Islands.
- Diet: Primarily eat squid and small fish from the water’s surface but also scavenge offal from fishing vessels and floating animal carcasses.
- Threats: Plastic waste ingestion, invasive species (rats, mice, cats), and disease.
- Bycatch, with around 100,000 birds accidentally killed each year by commercial longline and trawl fisheries.
- Invasive species on islands such as Gough Island impacting over 60% of albatross species and causing the deaths of more than 2 million seabird chicks annually.
- Conservation Efforts: Include the Mouse-Free Marion Project, which will drop 600 tons of rodenticide on Marion Island in 2027 to eliminate mice.
- To address bycatch, techniques such as bird-scaring lines, weighted branch lines, and night setting of gear.
