Without doubt, the albatross are one of the groups of seabirds that need our greatest conservation effort. Commercial fisheries, through incidental capture, have generated a huge impact in many populations and almost all the species are currently in danger of extinction. As they spend the main part of their lives at sea, these species escape our view with the exception of one, not insignificant group of people: those who work on the high seas.
Fishermen live from day to day with the seabirds, in many regions of the planet the albatross are an important part of the bird assemblages that associate with fishing vessels and feed from the discards. During the different fishing operations, these species accompany the vessels as tireless companions throughout all of their trips. This is fundamental, as the first step toward conserving is understanding.
As we increasingly get to know these animals, we understand in greater depth why it is necessary to make efforts to reverse the current status of the albatross. Several reasons immediately occur to me: amongst them is the aesthetic value they hold for us humans, we have an obligation to ensure the next generations are also able to appreciate these fantastic animals; another would be their role in the marine ecosystem.
However, on-board a vessel last month after a long discussion about the same issue with Alfredo Olaya, captain of a longline fishing vessel, I experienced some circumstances on deck that are nothing new to the crew, but which made me think about something which I will now describe.
One emblematic species in the South Atlantic is the Wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans). The population that arrives in Uruguayan waters reproduce in the subantarctic archipelago of South Georgia. This albatross is one of the largest flying bird species on the planet and is capable of living for several decades. This species only reproduces every two years. Both parents take on the long responsibility of rearing up the chick, from building the nest in the tussock grass through to when the chick fledges and abandons the island, a period of time that takes around a year.
The juvenile albatross will return to the island for the first time after spending several years at sea and will only start to breed when it reaches around 10 years old .Unfortunately, this population is currently declining dramatically and today there are hardly a thousand breeding pairs. The longline fisheries in the Southwest Atlantic are without doubt the main cause for this decline.
During October, I was aboard a pelagic longline fishing vessel that was targeting swordfish, tuna and sharks. My objective was to continue evaluating the effectiveness of tori lines at reducing seabird bycatch, a project that we started through the ATF in 2009.
Our studies on board have permitted us to record that the Wandering albatross abundance increases in Uruguayan waters between July and November, with a peak between September and November.
In the majority of cases the birds are adult females, which are still rearing a chick on Bird Island (one of the islands around South Georgia), have finished raising their chick or are just starting to reproduce. Getting to know the details of the life history of these albatross has been possible thanks to close collaboration between the Proyecto Albatros y Petreles – Uruguay and the British Antarctic Survey (BAS).
Scientists at BAS have been studying the albatross at Bird Island, South Georgia since 1958, where the birds have been ringed with metal and coloured plastic bands to identify the individuals and thereby gain an insight into their movements throughout their lives.
During hauling observations aboard on the 19th October, I was taking photos of some of the seabirds from the deck and was paying special attention to the Wandering albatross. One of these albatross circled in close to the vessel hauling bay and I was able to get a good picture (below). The bird had two rings attached to its legs, one metal and one green plastic ring with the number 376. I showed these images to the fishermen. I must add that seeing these birds with rings is nothing unusual, as the whole Bird Island population is monitored by BAS and it is common for the fishermen of the fleet to have seen one of these birds when they are caught and brought on board.
Even so, the information that these rings allow us to obtain throughout the long life of the animals does not often find its way back to the fishing vessels, paradoxically those who live with the birds on the high seas.
When I returned to shore, Martin Abreu continued a trip on the same vessel and on the 2nd November recorded another ringed Wandering albatross, in this case carrying a white plastic ring with the number 770 (see below). We reported these sightings to BAS in line with the 50 or so cases we have reported in the past. However, the life history of these two birds really caught my attention.
The information that BAS provided us with explained that the bird I saw in October was a female that was first ringed in 1988 as a chick, the same bird had returned to Bird Island for the first time in the summer of 1990/91. Currently this bird is raising a chick which was waiting in excellent health for her to return to the nest. The albatross Martin photographed in November was an adult female, first ringed during the summer of 1982/83 and reproduced for the first time in 1987/88. Until now, this female has successfully raised ten chicks. We expect it to be arriving back at Bird Island over the next few days, as they breed every two years and this bird was not present during the last season.
The life history of these albatross, known in great detail thanks to the effort of the BAS scientists, could not generate any other sensation than that of respect. One of these birds has my exact age, 34 year old. It has travelled the oceanic waters of the South Atlantic and possibly other great oceans during its non-breeding season over more than three decades. I cannot imagine how many fishing vessels it must have come into contact with over that period. Only in Uruguay the longline fleet is active since 1981. This individual and many others from the same population have been flying year after year within the vicinity of the Uruguayan fleet and were even here long before these vessels started fishing, as Wandering albatross live for upto 60 years old.
During this period new generations of fishermen have joined the fleet. When one of these birds is caught on a hook and dies, it must not be taken lightly. A simple fishing operation can result in a fatality.
The combination of night setting, a tori line and line weighting can be applied to these vessels without any major difficulty. By doing so, the long life history of these birds can be saved from a fatal end that only takes a few seconds to occur.
Sebastián Jiménez
Albatross Task Force – Uruguay
Proyecto Albatros y Petreles – Uruguay
Thanks to Andy Wood and Richard Phillips of the British Antarctic Survey for providing with such kindness the information on the ringed albatross, and to Alfredo Olaya and his crew for the collaboration and good faith that we always receive onboard.