"A good south wind sprung up behind: The Albatross did follow"
(From the Rime of The Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge)
There is nothing more special then to see a wandering albatross in effortless flight. On all voyages that I have been on the
Aurora Australis, there has been albatross flying around and with the ship. I have spent so much time on the decks watching these magnificent birds.
They have the greatest wingspan of any bird - up to 3.4 metres (12ft ) - get a measuring tape and see how large that is). They can glide with the ocean winds for hours at a time without flapping their wings.
On the AA some followed us for days.
A couple of weeks ago, while on a boating trip down the east coast, their were a number of black browed albatross that flew silently over the calm ocean.
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| Black browed albatross just off Landing Beach (photo - Barend Becker) |
When L'Astrolabe arrived at Macquarie Island in October - on board was Jaimie Cleeland a PhD student who was here to carry out further research on "environmental and anthropogenic influences on population and demographic status and trends on four species of Southern Ocean Albatross". She has been ably assisted by Kate Lawrence. They are known as the 'Alby girls' and they have been all over the island researching the four albatross species on the island - searching out known nesting sites and banded birds. They are also collecting samples for dietary analysis and assessing habitat changes - slips, erosion and vegetation re-growth after pest eradication. This is Jaimie's 3rd summer on the island and she has reacquainted herself with the birds of the island.
Jaimie has kindly allowed me to use some of her amazing photos in this blog.
The rarest of the four species is the wandering albatross.
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| Wandering albatross - taken from the deck of the Aurora Australis in 2008 (photo - Barend Becker) |
There are around 30 wandering albatross on Macquarie Island. They can weigh up to 12kg and as mentioned have a wing span of up to 3.5 metres. They can live up to 50 years and mate for life. They only start breeding at 6 to 8 years of age and only breed every other year.
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| Wandering albatross pair on the southern part of Macquarie island (photo - Jaimie Cleeland) |
Wandering albatross have been studied at Macquarie Island and banding of chicks has been undertaken since 1954 (Tomkins 1983). There are a couple of birds nesting at Petrel Peak (on the southwest tip of the island) A male (Male 12) is 33 years old and was banded at Bauer in 1980, and has fledged 9 chicks (with the same partner for 17 years. There is also a female (Female 4) who is 32 years old and has fledged 8 chicks.
It is thought that before people came to the island (sealers, whalers and early explorers), there were possibly 200 breeding pairs.
Long line fishing is a major threat to albatross numbers, though ingestion of plastics has also taken its toll.
Eggs are laid throughout October and hatch around 70 days later, with both members of the pair taking turns incubating the egg. The parents then take turns brooding the chick for around 30 days. The chicks are then left alone and fed regularly until they fledge during late April or May.
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| Black-browed albatross on a nest with its chick on the southern slopes of the island (photo - Jaimie Cleelnad) |
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| Black-browed albatross with its large chick (photo - Jaimie Cleeland) |
The black-browed albatross is one of the most numerous albatrosses in the world with the global population of 680,000 breeding pairs, of which 85% are on the Falkland Islands. Despite living up to 70 years of age, like the wandering albatross, their numbers are decreasing, mainly as a result of long-line fishing.
The black-browed albatross is a good indicator of orcas.
The Grey-headed albatross (
Mollymawk) are similar in size to the black-browed albatross and are easily distinguished by its grey head and yellow, orange and black bill. They also breed and nest on the steep slopes of the southwest corner of the island at Petrel Peak and also on a outlying rock stack known as West Rock.
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| Grey-headed albatross on a nest high up on the steep, tussock covered slopes of the southern corner of the island (photo - Jaimie Cleeland) |
There are around 70 to 80 pairs on Macquarie Island, with two new pairs found on Cape Star. This is a small part of the global population of around 90,000 breeding pairs.
Eggs are laid in October and hatch in late December or early January. The chicks take a little longer to fledge then the black-browed albatross leaving the island during May.
Because they range further south then other similar albatross (Mollymawk), their numbers have been greatly reduced by the illegal or unregulated fishing of Patagonian toothfish in the southern Indian Ocean. It was estimated this fishery resulted in 10 and 20,000 dead albatrosses, mainly this species, in 1997/98.
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| Grey-headed albatross perched precariously on the steep slopes of Petrel Peak (photo - Jaimie Cleeland) |
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| Grey-headed albatross with its chick (photo - Jaimie Cleeland) |
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| Grey-headed albatross chick (photo - Jamie Cleeland) |
Light-mantled sooty albatross, affectionately known as 'sooties', are the last of the four species of albatross that breed on Macquarie Island. They are also the most numerous with around 1500 to 1800 pairs, around 5% of the worlds population.
They are distinguishable from the other albatross species because of their dark plumage. Because of their numbers they are also the most photographed of the species.
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| Light-mantled sooty albatross pair (photo - Jaimie Cleeland) |
They also have a distinctive, contrasting white crescent marking surrounding most of the eye.
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| Close-up of a light mantled sooty, showing the distinctive white mark around the eye (photo - Jaimie - Cleeland) |
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| Breeding pair of light-mantled sooty albatross (photo - Jaimie Cleeland) |
There are many to see around the station limits, usually soaring on the winds funnelling up the gullies and hills. Their narrower wings and longer tails give them greater manoeuvrability in the air, which they use to great advantage during their courtship flights.
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| Light-mantled sooty in flight above the lookout (photo - Barend Becker) |
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| Pair of 'sooties' gliding near Wireless Hill (photo - Barend Becker) |
Like most of the albatross they nest on the slopes or on cliff ledges, sometimes in small colonies.
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| A couple of sooties fly about the cliffs just south of Secluded Bay (North Head) - If you look closely you can see many nesting in the nooks and ledges of the cliff (photo - Barend Becker) |
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| Close-up of six light-mantled sooty albatross nesting in the nooks and ledges of the cliff face - see previous image (photo - Barend Becker) |
They arrive back at the island in September and you can often hear their courting call (unique amongst albatross) heralds the end of winter.
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| A pair of 'sooties' courting (photo - Jaimie Cleeland) |
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| Their courting call is very distinctive (photo - Jaimie Cleeland) |
Like the wandering albatross the light-mantled sooty albatross breed every two years. A single egg is laid in early November and are incubated for around 70 days, hatching in December or January. The chicks are fledged in May or June (much shorter time then the wandering albatross).
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| Pair of sooties with their chick - on the northern slope of Gadgets Gully, not far from station (photo - Barend Becker) |
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| Close-up of a light-mantled sooty albatross (photo - Jaimie Cleeland) |
These albatross also have a long lifespan, often up to the age of 40. There is a pair in Gadgets Gully that are believed to be 46 years old.
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| Light-mantled sooty albatross in the upper part of Gadgets Gully (photo - Barend Becker) |
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| In Gadgets Gully - Tony H leaning back against the northern slope of Gadgets to get a good photo of a sooty on the opposite slope (photo - Barend Becker) |
I have referenced material from
Jaimie Cleeland
Sub-Antarctic Wilderness - Macquarie Island (Aleks Terauds & Fiona Stewart 2008)
I would like to give special thanks to Jaimie Cleeland for her talks, advice a amazing photos.
Next time….. more about the diverse wildlife
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| Light-mantled sooty albatross - taken from Wireless Hill track (photo - Barend Becker) |
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Marvellous blog and images. Thanks Barry and Jamie for ur images. Love Macca!
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