Scott Shaffer, monitoring Midway Atoll. Every summer, the beaches of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands become filled with eager beavers.

Scott Shaffer monitoring Black-footed Albatross. Well, a total of 9 albatross fledglings have been equipped with satellite transmitters and they have all

Russ Vetter, Leg III SHARK CRUISE. The surface waters of the open ocean are referred to as the “pelagic zone”, and it is hard for people who have never been out at sea

Scott Shaffer from UCSanta Cruz Long Marine Lab. Since deploying satellite transmitters on 9 fledgling albatrosses back in July, we felt it was long overdue for an update

Thousands of albatross die each year from entanglement with fishing gear. Primarily, albatrosses scavenge for baits containing hooks that are dropped over the side of vessels fishing for tuna and other pelagic fish (see BirdLife International's website "Save the Albatross" for more details. Of course the birds don't know that when they bite into the fish, they are being hooked and eventually pulled underwater by the wait of the longline as it sinks. Unfortunately, this is one of the greatest threats to albatross populations.

Researchers Scott Shaffer and Michelle Kappes make cameo appearances in a story -- "On the Wings of the Albatross" -- in the December 2007 issue of National Geographic Magazine, now online. Writer Carl Safina and Santa Cruz, Ca., photographer Frans Lanting put together the feature story. It's a fabulous look at the world's albatross, and features -- in still photos, text and video -- black-footed albatrosses on Midway Island, where Scott and Michelle have been doing research.

Michelle Kappes, at UC Santa Cruz Long Marine Lab. Do albatrosses change where they look for food from year to year? As albatrosses are gaining some fantastic attention in a December 2007 National Geographic Magazine article written by Carl Safina and photographed by Frans Lanting, we’re trying to learn more about these majestic birds through our research projects.

Scott Shaffer, at UC Santa Cruz Long Marine Lab. Only two out of the nine satellite-tagged fledgling albatrosses that took to the air for the first time in July are still sending back signals. A Laysan and a black-footed albatross are still transmitting their positions as they soar across the wide Pacific Ocean. But, along with another black-footed albatross who stopped reporting about 10 days ago, these birds sent back locations for 117-119 days. That's our new record!!

Michelle Kappes, at UC Santa Cruz Long Marine Lab. As part of my PhD project at the University of California, Santa Cruz, I’m looking to see how efficient Hawaiian albatross parents are at feeding their chicks. We estimate how much energy Laysan and black-footed albatross adults use up during a trip to sea to find food. And then we measure how much food energy they deliver to their chicks when they return from sea. That’s where the bucket comes in. (Here's the photo that Frans Lanting took of me holding the chick in a basket.

National Geographic's "Wild Chronicles" is airing Christine Eckstrom's video of albatrosses on PBS stations beginning Saturday, Dec. 15. Check your local listings. The story features photographer Frans Lanting and writer Carl Safina with TOPP researcher Scott Shaffer on Midway Atoll.

Jane Stevens at UC Santa Cruz Long Marine Lab, CA - Meet albatross researcher Scott Shaffer at Camp Ocean Pines this weekend! Get up close and personal with this guy, who's traveled to some of the most remote islands on the globe to study sea birds and mammals, take a look at his photos and hear his stories about putting satellite tags on albatross and red-footed boobies in the middle of storms and high winds. He'll bring some amazing things for show-and-tell -- the wing of an albatross, the skull and bill, a chick bolus.

Jane Stevens, at UC Santa Cruz Long Marine Lab - On Saturday, Feb. 2, photographer Frans Lanting presents "Albatrosses: Birds of Legend in Times of Trouble" in two shows -- one at 2 p.m. and the other at 7 p.m. -- at the Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz.

Scott Shaffer, UC Santa Cruz Long Marine Lab, CA -- There's excitment in the air, hormones are raging, lots of singing and dancing, and well..... albatrosses are doing what comes naturally at this time of year. They're breeding.

Melinda Conners, on Tern Island, Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge -- This unique bird is the product of a union between a Laysan albatross and a black-footed albatross. Both of these species breed on Tern Island.

Melinda Conners, on Tern Island, Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge - The albatross chicks are growing like weeds!  The adults are leaving the chicks unattended for days on end while they endlessly forage throughout the North Pacific Ocean to provide their rapidly growing chick with high-calorie chick-meals. 

Nicole Teutschel at UC Santa Cruz, Long Marine Lab--Accountants have tax season, teachers... back to school, malls have the holidays: TOPP biologists are busy now...when many species are ready for tags, all at once! TOPP biologists are busy deploying satellite tags on five species....and that's just today!

Melinda Conners at Tern Island, Hawaii--We finished off our last fresh fruits and vegetables a month ago.  We've since been relying on canned and frozen vegetables to supplement our cooking efforts.  Sometimes we have to be creative:  edamole (made from green edamame beans) instead of guacamole; frozen cauliflower instead of brussel sprouts, canned water chestnuts instead of onions.  Frozen broccoli has become our ubiquitous vegetable side dish.  What's for dinner?  Enchiladas with a side of broccoli, sesame chicken with a side of broccoli, falafel sandwiches