I'm delighted (and more than a little envious) to present a guest blog from former RSPB Director of International Operations, Tim Stowe who brings a tale from the high seas of an AGM with a difference. Wish I'd been there? You bet and I'm sure you will too!

“It would be great if you came to our AGM”, Mark said the last time we met. “Sure!” I said, half heartedly. Mark is the dynamic Director of BirdLife South Africa, our BirdLife Partner in the country. Now, I know the RSPB’s AGM is pretty special – business followed by some of our most inspiring communicators show-casing our best achievements - but travelling to Cape Town to attend an AGM? 

But this was an AGM like no other. This was The Flock2017, held aboard a luxurious liner cruising many miles off the South African coast, for a sea-watching extravaganza!  How could I refuse?


Not a bad place to host an AGM. Add in a spectacular array of albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters and it's an experience never to be forgotten!

Setting sail
We set sail from Cape Town late afternoon. There were a few Cape fur seals in the harbour, the roof-nesting Swift terns filled the air and a few African penguins ‘porpoised’ in the swell outside. I’m not a great sailor and I had never been on large vessels. I now found myself on a floating skyscraper. We had access to decks 5-12, and the view from the top deck was amazing. As the sun set that evening, and the Table Mountain disappeared over the horizon, I was relieved that the ship was so stable.

It was dark when most of the 1800 bird watchers on board had breakfast the next morning. We were now at the edge of the continental shelf. At dawn, birds started to appear all around the ship – great-winged and soft-plumaged petrels chased the ship, shearwaters and storm-petrels danced in the wake. It was not long before someone shouted “albatross” and a giant of all these ocean wanders came gracefully and effortlessly into view. The sheer size of a wandering albatross made it visible at over a kilometre from our tower on the sea. Gliding on stiff wings, the precision with which it rose above the wave crests and let its wing tips caress the surface in the troughs made it a magical master of this environment.


The wandering albatross is one of those birds once seen, never forgotten - it is huge!

Seabird extravaganza
More birds appeared, as the ship slowly cruised along the edge of the shelf. The shelf is important for seabirds because the change in water depth produces mixing of water of different temperature and chemistry, bringing to the surface plankton, cephlapods (eg squid) and fish, all food for seabirds. Soon there were more wanderers, accompanied by shy albatrosses, shearwaters and more petrels, and then a sooty albatross. BirdLife South Africa had provided guides on each deck who helped those less knowledgeable see and identify the birds around us.


If you don't have sea legs, this might make you feel a little queezy!

We passed some deep sea fishing boats using bird-scaring lines to prevent birds getting entangled in the fishing gear. These lines are one of the devices successfully promoted by the Albatross Task Force, hosted by the RSPB on behalf of BirdLife International, to reduce seabird deaths at sea. Black-browed albatrosses (we saw several most days) love to follow fishing vessels and are especially at risk. Reductions in albatross deaths achieved by the ATF may have stabilised the breeding populations of these albatrosses on the Falklands Islands.


The Albatross Task Force has made great strides in albatross conservation thanks to the support of people like you (black-browed albatross by Gary Cusins)

Conservation action
As we cruised around through the vast wilderness  – the boundary between the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans – we saw thousands of seabirds including the white-headed petrel, tiny black-bellied storm–petrels, Antarctic prions, northern giant petrel and great shearwaters. These shearwaters breed in their thousands on Gough Island (part of Tristan da Cunha), some 2,500km away, where the RSPB is preparing to eradicate invasive house mice which are eating seabird chicks alive.


Great shearwaters are one of several seabirds getting a helping hand from your support

BirdLife South Africa held its AGM on the fourth day, with many of us tearing ourselves away from the sea-watching to hear about the conservation successes of our Partner. Only the gentle rocking indicated that this AGM was over 100 miles from land, during an epic journey, recording 33 species of seabirds including 7 species of albatrosses, plus dolphins, pilot whales, and Cape Fur Seals many miles from land. This was the second time the AGM was held afloat, and it was hugely popular - not only that, the event made a significant profit for conservation. What an AGM!


The route followed by TheFlock 2017 (Andrew Hodgson)

You can find out more about our partners at Birdlife South Africa and their work, plus a full report of the cruise but be prepared to be even more envious of what you missed!