Tracking Ocean Wanders (PDF, 5 MB) - BirdLife International

Tracking ocean wanderers: the global distribution of albatrosses and petrels – Regional summaries
during 1997–99 established the feasibility of tagging this
species at-sea and provided valuable insights into the
movements and habitats of post-breeding birds. In spite of
the small sample size (1 male / 5 females), this study
revealed that non-breeding birds range over large distances
(100s–1,000s km) and inhabit the same oceanographic
‘transition zones’ where swordfish Xiphias spp. and
albacore Thunnus alalunga are taken in the northeast Pacific
Ocean (Hyrenbach and Dotson 2003). These preliminary
results suggest that post-breeding albatrosses are
particularly susceptible to U.S. and foreign pelagic longline
fleets.
Scott Shaffer, Dan Costa, Rob Suryan, and David Hyrenbach
Figure 4.6. Regional summary of breeding and non-breeding albatrosses in the North Pacific.
A. Combined breeding utilisation distribution map for two species of albatross tracked in the North Pacific. (See Table 4.9 for the list of breeding
species and datasets included.) Colonies were given equal weight.
B. Shows the separate distributions of the two species, with Laysans in blue and Black-footed in red.
C. Combined non-breeding utilisation distribution map for two species of albatross tracked in the North Pacific. (See Table 4.9 for the list of nonbreeding
species and datasets included.)
D. Shows the separate distributions of the two species, with Short-tailed in green and Black-footed in orange.
For the combined maps species were given equal weights.
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