To mark World Albatross Day (19 June), we’re highlighting the work that takes place across NRE Tas to help monitor and protect these remarkable birds.
Did you know that World Albatross Day began as a day to celebrate the signing of the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP)?
Of the 22 ACAP-listed species, eight breed in Tasmanian territory and 18 forage within Tasmanian maritime jurisdiction. Seven of these eight species can be found on Macquarie Island, a subantarctic World Heritage Area managed by Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service.
NRE Tas has been monitoring populations of wandering albatross on Macquarie Island since the 1950s.
“Wandering albatross are a spectacular seabird found only in the Southern Ocean,” wildlife biologist Sam Thalmann explained.
“This small but important breeding population on Macquarie Island has on average eight breeding pairs nesting each year. The maximum number of breeding pairs recorded was 28 in 1968, and the lowest number was just two breeding pairs in 1985.”
NRE Tas staff on Macquire Island monitor the wandering albatross population by banding chicks before they are big enough to leave the nest. This means the team can track individual survival and breeding success.
All nests on the island are monitored using remote cameras which allows rangers to calculate laying and hatching dates over winter and identify reasons for nest failures. The Marine Conservation Program also has several fibreglass decoys, which are placed on the island with hopes of recruiting new individuals into the population.
This winter, five nests are being monitored on the island with breeding pairs ranging from 11 to 45 years old.
Tasmania is also particularly important to the shy albatross, which breed exclusively on three offshore islands: Albatross Island in the north, and Pedra Branca and Mewstone in the south. Shy albatross populations have been studied in these areas since the 1980s.
Albatrosses are very slow to mature, and some take up to 10 years before breeding which means they may not return to land for a decade. Once ready to breed, they return to these islands and lay a single egg every one to two years. This low reproduction rate means that these populations are extremely vulnerable to threats.