Tale of the Guadalupe Laysan Albatross

Authors: R.W.Henry (henry@biology.uscs.edu, UCSC Santa Cruz, Island Conservation), Alfonso Aguirre (alfonso.aguirre@conservaciondeislas.org, Grupo de Ecología y Conservación de Islas)

It’s mid November and the albatrosses are returning to the Isla Guadalupe, arriving from the far reaches of Alaska’s Aleutian Chain and the Bearing Sea. They ride the ocean winds, soaring on the heels of a strong northwest storm, cutting across thousands of kilometers on the breath of a wing. The Laysan albatross of Guadalupe Island return south to these rugged volcanic cliffs, home on tierra firmea for the next seven months. Being of the wind and sea, they are awkward if not downright clumsy on land. They tumble from botched landings and waddle about the landscape, earning them the nickname of Gooney Bird. Once at the colony, with luck lifelong mates will reunite, not having seen each other during the past four months at sea. Together the pair will work hard to bring a new life out onto the ocean during this breeding season.

We join the albatross, arriving with our mountain of field equipment, following our quest to learn about the at-sea lives of these ocean wanderers. The first time I laid eyes on a Laysan albatross I was awestruck. After arriving from Ensenada by Mexican Navy boat and panga in stormy seven-meter swells, then climbing the temple-like steps from the landing at the south end of Guadalupe Island, I was greeted by the calm of these mystical birds. Their sleepy shadowed eyes slowly met my gaze. Sitting quietly, they dotted the bouldery lichened landscape, shouldering the wind with the purest of white breasts gently nestled down on their large eggs.

Laysan albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) are true seabirds, spending most of their lives on the open ocean. Among the smallest of albatrosses, weighing in at 2.5 kilos they still sport a solid two meters of wingspan that serve to effortnessly rocket them at speeds of over 100km/hr. Albatrosses are true masters of the wind with specially adapted tendons that serve to lock their wings open during flight. Members of the Procellariforme, or the tube-nose bird family, they lay only one egg each year and are monogamous, maintaining the same mate over many years. Laysan albatrosses commonly live to be 30 years old -- some as long as 50 years -- and literally cover millions of kilometers of open sea during their lifetime!

Come mid-November the birds return to Guadalupe to mate. Partners reunite and begin the spectacle of a courtship dance. Heads bobbing, mates pair up to perform an ancient elaborate dance: elegant sky moos with heads gracefully outstretched, mind numbing bill clapping, and fanning of black wings akin to fancy Asian hand fans. Following copulation and subsequent laying, the pair take shifts incubating the egg for the next two months. One bird always attends the nest while the mate forages at sea; shifts can last up to three weeks. These extended trips help adults store necessary reserves for the upcoming chick.

In anticipation of hatch, both adults make shorter trips in late January, ready to provide food to the helpless downy gray chick. For the three weeks following hatch the adults alternate babysitting with brief forays to foraging grounds; this is the brood rearing period. At first, meals consist primarily of a thick rich orange oil, often likened to diesel fuel. This foul smelling concoction is the avian analog to mammalian milk, and a unique feature of these types of birds. The birds separate out fats in their digestive system to save oils that float to the top for the chick. While squid is the primary food of Laysan albatrosses, they also consume pelagic fishes and carrion, including dead seals. Trust me, it is no fun to get doused in stomach oil while handling the birds.

The chicks grow quickly, often reaching two kilograms in 30 days. At this point they become chubby footballs. In late February, the parents begin to leave the chicks alone, often for over a week at a time. So begins the long chick rearing period where, unconstrained by the needs of a small chick, the adults travel extremely far and wide, scouring the Pacific Ocean for food. This pattern continues for the next four months, chicks wait patiently at the colony for weeks while parents seek out tasty meals of squid, fish, fish eggs, jellyfish, or carrion on the high seas. The chicks depart the island on their first flight. If they survive, they will return to the island in three years, but will not breed for five to six years.

Following breeding, the adults take a vacation from the island. They pass late summer and fall by retreating to the North Pacific. Here they spend much of their time on the water during an extensive molt. They also take advantage of the abundant resources of the northern ocean.

We began a joint effort to track the Guadalupe albatrosses by satellite in 2003. This collaborative project involves Grupo de Ecología y Conservación de Islas, Secretaría de Marina-Armada de Mexico, University of California Santa Cruz, Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas and the Tagging of Pacific Predators Program (TOPP). Our satellite tracking work takes place during the incubation, brooding and early rearing periods. We use special tape to attach small 35-gram satellite transmitters to the backs of foraging adults as they depart the colony. The resulting tracking data not only tell us about the movement patterns of the birds, but by adding other satellite data, such as information on ocean productivity and currents, we can understand what ocean features the birds use. This electronic technology has just recently helped us to learn about the at-sea at lives of ocean-going animals such as albatrosses. It’s an odd sort of modern practice of natural history, where binoculars are replaced with electronic tags and notebooks with laptops.

Our tracking efforts provide insight to the incredible ecology of these birds. One Guadalupe Island albatross left its chick to fly 13,000 kilometers on a round trip up to the Gulf of Alaska, returning 21 days later to provision it with meals gathered from afar. The adults swing out to sea from Guadalupe, heading north offshore to foraging grounds, returning south on strong near shore winds that boost them home, often traveling over 500 kilometers a day!

This breeding colony of Laysan albatrosses is a new phenomenon on Guadalupe Island and the entire Eastern Pacific Ocean. The main colonies in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and Japan were historically decimated by egg and feather hunters in the late 1800’s. Colonies were extirpated and populations numbered as few as 18,000 birds by the 1920s. With international protection, populations have rebounded to about 590,000 breeding pairs. The bulk of Laysans now nest on the Northwestern Hawaiian Island of Midway in the Central Pacific. The Guadalupe Island population, founded in 1983, has grown quickly to 340 breeding pairs. In fact, at this rapid growth rate, the Guadalupe colony will eventually become a globally important Laysan albatross colony.

However, this is not to say albatrosses do not face hurdles on Guadalupe. When I began my research in 2003, I arrived to a sad and gory scene. Feral cats had killed 60 breeding adult albatrosses. Their remains littered the colony and were scattered about with abandoned dead eggs. The cats were inadvertently introduced by sealers and whalers over a hundred years ago. Albatross are not the only victim of human carelessness on Guadalupe Island. Over the last century, cats have killed off several landbird species and possibly the Guadalupe Island storm petrel. The landbirds are gone from this planet, but the elusive Guadalupe storm petrel may still live on the inaccessible cliffs of the north part of the island. Cats have been introduced to countless islands worldwide and native animals continue to suffer, not having evolved defenses to introduced predators. The albatross were lucky: the non-profit Grupo de Ecología y Conservación de Islas of Mexico jumped in to help remove cats from the albatross colony. In the short term our efforts have stopped the killing and we have not witnessed any new deaths since. However hundred of cats remain on the island, posing a constant threat to the albatrosses and the other birds.

Additional threats to albatrosses include floating plastic debris such as bottle caps and cigarette lighters. They mistake these for prey and consume them at sea. Adults feed this plastic to their chicks who end up with belly of trash. However, the greatest threat to albatrosses worldwide remains the longline fishing industry. More than 100,000 albatrosses drown each year by consuming baited longline hooks. Several organizations such as Bird Life International are working with fishers to stop the slaughter by using tactics that prevent seabirds consuming baited hooks.

Despite these challenges, the Guadalupe Laysan albatrosses are doing quite well for now. The recent declaration of the island and surroundings waters as a Biospehre Reserve National Protected area promises to protect the breeding grounds of these amazing birds indefinitely.

While pouring through the volumes of data generated by our research and communications, I often pause to wonder: Where exactly is that big white bird, that speck out there riding the winds of the great Pacific Ocean. To learn more about albatrosses, other pelagic creatures and Guadalupe Island visit:

Save the Albatross

Tagging of Pacific Predators

Grupo de Ecología y Conservación de Islas (Mexico) and Island Conservation (USA):