Take a "Virtual Visit" to Midway

Who wouldn't want to visit Midway Atoll NWR, the site of the world's largest Laysan Albatross nesting colony?!  At the moment, there are no eco-tourism opportunities on the Atoll, but there is a way to visit the Refuge virtually --> "like" Friends of Midway Atoll NWR Facebook Page.  Lots of pictures and updates!

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!

How Big were Midway's Tsunami Waves?

from NOAA: Height of the seawater at Midway's Sand Island during the March 10-11, 2011 tsunami.

               
Y axis is height of the seawater.                                       GMT = Greenwich Mean Time

MLLW = "the average of the lowest tide recorded at a tide station each day during the recording period," according to Wikipedia

WL = water level (I think!) __________________________________________________________________________

Midway Harbor dock; photo by Pete Leary

Around midnight Midway time (1 hour earlier than Hawai`i Standard Time) on March 10-11, 2011 Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge was hit by 4 tsunami waves that had been generated by an earthquake off Sendai, Japan.  US Fish & Wildlife's Susan White, the Pacific Reefs NWRC Project Leader, provided this preliminary data:

11:36 p.m. -- 1.5 feet
11:48 p.m. -- 4.9 feet
12:18 p.m. -- 4.3 feet
12:48 p.m. -- 2.2 feet

One or more of these waves washed completely over the smallest island of the Atoll, called Spit.  Over half of Eastern Island, where the World War II battle took place, was swamped.

All the people live on the Atoll's third island, Sand Island, 20% of which was covered by the tsunami waves.  Everyone was safe; before the first wave was predicted to hit Midway, they all  evacuated to the top floor of Charlie Barracks.  In the days after the tsunami, there does not seem to be much damage to Midway.

Midway's birds are not doing as well.  As Anna noted in her blog entry just below, the good news is that the Short-tailed Albatross chick has survived!  This is the second time it's been washed out of its nest cup!

About the Laysan Albatross, John Klavitter, the Acting Refuge Manager, says the death toll for adults and subadults is probably a "minimum of 1000," and "tens of thousands of Laysan Albatross chicks [were] lost."  Since the Black-footed Albatross generally live closer to the ocean, they may have an even higher death toll.   Pete at Midway's blog has pictures of albatross and other birds tangled in mud and bushes.  I think some of the pictures are sad.  But some other pictures show hard-working staff, volunteers and visitors rescuing birds...and even a lucky honu (green sea turtle)!

additional information: "Hawaii's Laysan and Black-footed Albatrosses have likely suffered heavy losses in last week's tsunami," by Dr. Lindsay Young

Short-tailed Albatross Chick is NOT Blown Away

Short-tailed Albatross chick; photo by John Klavitter

About a month ago, on February 11th, hurricane-strength winds blew over Midway Atoll.  According to Ellen Lance, the Endangered Species Branch Chief of the US Fish and Wildlife Service in Alaska, Ironwood trees blew over, and some Albatross (both Laysan & Black-footed) were killed along with about two dozen Bonin petrels.

What happened to the one-and-only STAL chick on Midway?

As Ellen reported, "Staff and volunteers checked the STAL nest the next afternoon and observed the male on the nest....  After several minutes of searching, the chick was found about 25-m away, apparently washed out of the nest cup by the surf.  Fortunately, the chick appeared to be in good health and was returned back to the nest cup by refuge staff.  The adult male initially moved a few feet from the nest when the chick was placed in the cup, but returned to the nest about 45 minutes later."

As of February 23, the chick seemed fine.  At that time it was about about "50% larger than the largest Black-footed albatross chicks."

As soon as I hear more, updated information, I'll write another post.  Let's hope the good news continues!

A Curious Way of Walking

Here's a post by me, Edward Bfal.--

I know that Barb had quite a few FOAM posts about our cousins, the Laysan Albatross (LAAL)...but not quite as many about us, the Black-footed Albatross (BFAL.)  At the moment I'm not on Midway; I'm enjoying the open-ocean life in the North Pacific.  BBC Arkive's short video showing BFAL flight will give you an idea of what I think it feels like to soar over the sea: wonderful!

We BFALs return to Midway earlier than the LAAL, but that won't be until sometime in November.  Then I'll find Clarissa, we'll mate, and she'll lay our 2011 egg!

But I do have some photos from this summer at our Sand Island B8 neighborhood to share with you FOAM folks.  Above is a rather nice picture of me sitting in the native plant pōhuehue (beach morning glory, Ipomoea pes-caprae.)  Here's a larger picture of one of my nephews that makes me laugh, with his wild "haircut."  And I think you might enjoy this short video showing the rather curious way we BFALs walk.


Black-footed Albatross from Barb Mayer on Vimeo.

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.