Albatross Losses from 2011 Winter Storms and Tsunami

two adult Laysan Albatross,

It's the end of November and the albatross are back; hurray!!!

Worldwide, most of the Black-footed Albatross (BFAL) and Laysan Albatross (LAAL) live in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.  That's 95% of the global population of BFALs and even more, 99%, for the LAALs.  Therefore, it's important to keep track of how well albatross are doing in the NW Hawaiian Islands.

Before we really get into this season, let's take a look back at how well the albatross chicks did last year.  Specifically, let's look at how well they survived the heavy winter storms and the March Japan tsunami; the following numbers are provided by Dr. Lindsay Young, Wildlife Biologist with Pacific Rim Conservation.

Wow!  Looks like Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge was particularly hard hit!  Let's hope the 2012 hatch year is lots better!

Albatross "Baby" Pictures

photo by Solar Navigator

I really enjoyed the albatross chick pictures that Auntie Moana and Edward have posted.  Soooo: I decided to find more pictures that would show albatross at younger stages -- "baby" pictures!  To begin with, here's a picture of an albatross egg.  I guess if I were really scientific, I'd have a metric ruler in this picture to show how big it is...but it was more fun to put my sunglasses in the picture.  The egg is A LOT bigger than a chicken egg, as you can see in this picture with the can of Coke!

Laysan Albatross chick photo (c) Roseanne Tackaberry

My friend Rosanne from Canada took these pictures of baby albatross in March 2009; aren't they wonderful?!  The photo on the left shows a Laysan Albatross (LAAL) chick sitting in its nest.  I think it might be waiting to be fed by either its mom or dad.  They're probably both out fishing in the North Pacific Ocean.

Black-footed Albatross chick photo (c) Roseanne Tackaberry

This picture on the right shows a Black-footed Albatross chick that is being fed.  It doesn't look very different from the LAAL chick, does it?

Isn't it funny how it looks as if both chicks have had their down frosted?!

Edward's Chick -- 6/7/10

Edward's chick, a Black-footed Albatross

Perhaps it would be interesting for our blog readers to see a picture of Clarissa's and my chick, taken on the same day as Auntie Moana's chick picture.  Notice that our chick is darker -- of course, because it's a BLACK-footed Albatross.  But it's also closer to fledging; see that there is less down on the chest  than Auntie's chick.  Generally speaking, most of the Black-footed Albatross (BFAL) chicks will have fledged and left Midway before the  Laysan Albatross (LAAL) chicks.

I would say our chick is quite a handsome fellow, too.

Albatross have BIG Wings

I'd like to point out to our blog followers something they might not have noticed yet. All species of albatross have really long wings. I and my fellow Black-footed Albatross have wings that are about 7' long; wings on a Laysan Albatross are shorter by a few inches. We are sometimes called "nature's hang-gliders," since we use these long wings to soar for thousands of miles. Check out this BBC video:

Black-footed Albatross taking off from sea surface

There's an albatross skeleton on view in the Refuge Visitor Center. (Since the exhibit was put together with respect, and for public education, it's OK with me to have these bones of a member of my species on display.)

In this photo of the skeleton, Barb is holding the right wing; her thumb is on the humerus, the bone that goes from the shoulder down to the elbow. Right after that you'll see the radius and ulna are partially fused for strength during our long glides. Finally, the wing ends with the wrist and finger bones that are much reduced in all birds.

Pay attention to the ruler in the picture. When you eat a BBQ chicken wing, the meaty part is the humerus and it's about 2" long. Compare that to our humerus, which is about 10" long! Do a little math: how many times bigger is this albatross humerus compared to a chicken humerus?!

What's your food? --brine flies?

Btw, Happy Mothers Day everybody! My ducklings let me sleep a little longer than usual this morning.
I'd like to see lots of photos and videos in our blog. This video shows some of my relatives eating flies. It might take a bit of time to load, but I think BBC Arkive's video "Laysan Ducks feeding on swarms of flies at Laysan Atoll" is really funny!

Decoding FOAM authors' names

I thought what Auntie Moana and Edward said about their last names representing their bird species was interesting...
Auntie Moana Laal = Laysan Albatross
Edward Bfal = Black-footed Albatross
...so I guess Kahiko Ladu = Laysan Duck

I'm curious to know what "Moana," "Ulua" and "Kahiko" mean??

E komo mai! (Welcome!)

I'm going to Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge!!...which is part of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, located about 1200 miles northwest of Honolulu, Hawai`i.  From its name you can understand that it's in about the middle of the North Pacific Ocean!  I'll be working as a volunteer there for about 3 months, doing all kinds of wildlife management work.  My friends and I are going to author this blog about Midway together.  Let's introduce ourselves.