Black Browed Albatross

The Black Browed Albatross  (Thalassarche melanophrhys,  syn.  Diomedea melanophris) is the most common of all albatross species, but nonetheless it has to be considered as endangered following the IUCN Red List. Recently the breeding population in the Falkland Islands declined from 468 000 to 382 000 pairs within only 5 years. And numbers are still going down at approximately the same rate. The Black Browed Albatross is one of the most frequent bycatch species that is killed in longline fishery. Drowned in one place – protected in another: Most breeding sites of this beautiful bird are reserves. A nest that could even be for sale in a pottery, neatly placed beside a tuft of tussock grass, a beautiful, huge, dazzling white sea bird and a view on the perfectly blue ocean, this is what we love about the albatrosses. But it may as well hail just moments later at the Falkland Islands. And it takes as long as half a year from egg laying to fledging. The young Black Browed Albatrosses leave to spend the complete 4 years until maturity out at sea, roaming and soaring in search of krill, fish and squid. Sharing the ocean with longliners, setting lines with up to 20 000 hooks with bait.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011 at 11:30 am. It is filed under Awards. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.