A Story About Albatross Tracking their Travels and Tracking Plastic Trash © Sophie Webb 2004 This is a story about tracking albatross and tracking plastic trash. In particular, this story is about the dark albatross (right side of image) – this is the Black-footed albatross. These birds criss-cross the entire Pacific Ocean like you and I criss-cross our backyards! 1 “If we didn’t clean our shorelines, where could the litter go?” “How can your coastal clean- up efforts benefit these unique birds?” These are two important questions to think about during this presentation. 2 Seabird Diversity H. Nevins J.Harvey Alcid WWW.nzbirds.com Penguin Pelican Petrel H. Nevins Four main orders of seabirds: Sphenisciformes - Penguins Procellariiformes – Albatrosses, Shearwaters, Fulmars, & Petrels Pelecaniformes - Pelicans, Cormorants, Boobies, Frigate birds Charadriiformes - Gulls, Terns, & Alcids There are 4 main orders of seabirds: Sphenisciformes, Procellariiformes, Pelecaniformes, and Charadriiformes. Seabirds that belong to the order Procellariiformes are among the most pelagic and far-ranging of seabirds that occur in all the oceans. This story is about seabirds from this group. 3 Seabird Feeding Methods FEEDERS Plunging (Ashmole 1971) Seabirds feed in three main ways: (1) they collect food items from the surface, (2) they plunge to capture submerged prey, and (3) they use their wings and feet to fly or swim underwater. The foraging methods of seabirds influence their ability to gather different types of prey and marine debris (e.g., floating versus sinking). Whereas most plastics float on the surface, other types may float deeper down in the water column. Thus, not all the debris that sinks at the surface ends up in the bottom of the sea. When a sinking piece of debris reaches a layer of water whose density matches its own, it becomes neutrally bouyant (not sinking, but merely floating suspended in the water column). Therefore, this debris drifts passively in the water column, where diving turtles and seabirds can encounter it. 4 What is a seabird? © J. Adams Diagram credit: © W.Henry Lars Löfgren Seabirds make their living on the ocean; what makes them unique? They only come to land to breed and often do so on remote islands, where they form dense colonies; most species lay one egg and raise one chick; return to breed at island where they were hatched; they are long-lived (e.g., Albatross >80 yrs, shearwaters >50 years). The most important point is that these birds depend exclusively on the ocean through-out their lives. To contend with excess salt taken in by drinking and feeding, seabirds have their own desalinization systems in the form of glands of various shapes and sizes that lie in shallow depressions in or above the eye socket. The excess salt extracted from the blood by these glands passes as a concentrated solution through ducts into the nasal cavity and is eliminated through the nostrils in liquid form. 5 Black-footed albatross Laysan albatross Photo credit: P.Pyle Albatrosses are monogamous; they start arriving at nest sites (NW Hawaiian Islands) in mid-Oct; begin dancing and perform ritualized displays accompanied by distinct vocalizations; they have elaborate courtship displays and form long-term pair-bonds. The function of all the dancing is to help form and reinforce the pair bonds. They go through an “engagement” period of a yearr or longer; and some even build a mock nest. They eventually start breeding at age of 7-10 years old; they come together every year and a bird will take a new mate only if its partner dies or disappears; they return to the precise nesting spot (within a few meters); about 75% breed annually; lay a single egg by early November; the female returns to sea for 2-3 days after laying and the male incubates egg; develop oval area of bare skin; brood patch; male on nest first; doesn’t eat or leave the nest for 18-23 days; chick hatches late January /early February, 63-68 days after laying; chick is guarded by one parent that take turns for 2-3 weeks; then both male / female go to sea after 4 weeks; leave chick for a few days and as long as two weeks and visit chick to feed it 6 Unique characteristic of Procellariiformes? • Tubular nostrils – often called “tube-nosed seabirds” •Leach’s storm petrel – excellent example showing the nostrips on the top of the bill, merged into a single tube divided by a vertical septum. The prominence of the tube varies between species and its function is uncertain – it may aid in olfaction; smell is exceptionally good in many procellariiforms. 7 Black-footed albatross Sophie Webb Hyrenbach This is the Black-footed albatross, a wondrous ocean wanderer, which migrates thousands of miles across the North Pacific Ocean. With a 7 ft wingspan it can fly for hours and perhaps days, without ever flapping its wings because it flies so efficiently. They use the power of the wind, and can cover vast areas of the North Pacific using very little energy by using a process called ‘dynamic soaring’ – whereby they use uplift from the waves to gain lift (and potential energy) – which they they convert into momentum (speed). 8 WhatWhat makes makesseabirds vulnerable? seabirds vulnerable? • Long-line and other fishery interactions • Oiling from oil spills Ebbert • Threats at colonies: introduced mammals, habitat destruction Photo: W. Henry • Marine debris Because many species of seabirds are long-lived and far-ranging, and depend exclusively on the ocean through-out their lives, they are thus susceptible to human activities on their colonies and at-sea. There are 4 major sources of seabird morality: (1) long-line and other fishery interactions – in particular Albatross are attracted to fishing vessels and are often entangled in baited hooks, and drown – can result in injury or death by drowning; (2) oiling from oil spills; (3) predation at colonies from introduced mammals such as rats and cats; and (4) habitat destruction and degradation – including marine debris at-sea. 9 What are some threats to seabirds? • entanglement Entanglement is an obvious problem associated with marine debris. Sooty shearwaters (upper left photo) are affected by marine debris on their long journey from their nesting areas in New Zealand, Australia, and South America to waters off central California. Common murres and other diving seabirds often get entangled and killed by marine debris. Many other species of marine life are also affected by entanglement including fishes, marine mammals, and sea turtles. 10 What makes seabirds vulnerable?• Plastic ingestion Photo: Cynthia Vanderlip Another less conspicuous impact of marine debris is plastic ingestion. Seabirds eat plastic. This is a photo of a dead albatross chick with a stomach full of plastic debris – note the amount of bottle caps, the comb, and the toy car wheel. 11 Seabirds most susceptible to plastic ingestion Saenz • Black-footed and Laysan Albatross Webb Saenz • Northern fulmar Three factors influence the incidence of seabird ingestion of plastics: (1) foraging mode, (2) habitat use and (3) body size. Far-ranging species that feed opportunistically at the sea surface are most susceptible to plastic ingestion. Three examples are the BFAL, LAAL, and NOFU. Surface feeders have a greater rate of plastic ingestion and also ingest greater proportions of user plastic. Diving birds also eat plastic but are not as susceptible as surface feeders. Oceanic species - which commonly range over vast areas in search of broadly- distributed prey – seem more prone to plastic ingestion that coastal species – which target dense aggregations of fish and zooplankton prey. Finally, because larger seabirds consume larger prey items, large-bodies species often ingest larger plastic fragments. 12 This photo shows Laysan albatross chicks (red arrows) waiting patiently for their parents to return to feed them. Chicks will wait for as long as two weeks at a time, while the male / female travel thousands of kilometers to find food for themselves and their chicks. 13 Photo credit: Kinnan When the parent returns, it regurgitates whatever it has collected at sea in an oily slurry, into the chick’s mouth. 14 Should contain: •50% fish •32% squid •5% crustaceans •10% stomach oil (Harrison et al. 1983 Fry 1987) Photo credit: Kinnan When chicks get ready to fledge (leave the nest site) they regurgitate a bolus, a compacted mass of indigestible material that should contain fish parts, squid beaks and hard parts of crustaceans. 15 Analysis of Albatross Chick Boluses • Kure Atoll, Hawaiian Island Chain (Kinan 2000) – Analyzed 144 boluses from Laysan and Black-footed albatrosses – Plastic found in every single one (100%) The contents of boluses provide an index of ocean health – like a barometer. Seabirds are excellent indicators of the state of marine ecosystems and of impacts from human activities, which can reach far from land. Kinan did a study in Kure Atoll in 1999-2000 and found plastic in all 144 Black-footed and Laysan albatross boluses she examined. 16 Photo: C. Vanderlip This is a photo of the contents of a dissected bolus. How many plastic items can you identify? 17 Effects of plastic ingestion? • Large plastic items – ulcerations, infection & obstruction • Small plastic items – reduce meal size, dehydration Long-term effects of plastic ingestion? • Leaching of toxic chemicals from the plastic ? • Lower breeding success ? The incidence of plastic ingestion in many long-lived species is an emerging ecological issues on a global scale. Plastic ingestion studies (Sievert & Sileo 1993, Ludwig et al. 1998), have revealed several short and long term effects of plastic ingestion: -Chicks eat less and grow weak; plastic ingestion can result in gut obstruction and lesions, diminished feeding stimulus due to satiation and low fledging weights. -Adults regurgitate large objects to their young, however objects may be too large for chick to regurgitate until it reaches fledging stage.