Laysan Albatross Cam, Kauai 2017

[Kris G.]

This nest is located on Kauai and this year features 2 females, Mahealani and Pilialoha, who have a newly hatched baby named Kalama!
The story on how they received a fertile egg:

http://www.audubon.org/news/on-ground-us-navys-albatross-adoption-agency

A feeding by Pilialoha!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=BPGsgoW5y8o

The live cam link:

http://cams.allaboutbirds.org/channel/41/Laysan_Albatross/

[Dot_Forrester]

This nest is located on Kauai and this year features 2 females, Mahealani and Pilialoha, who have a newly hatched baby named Kalama!
The story on how they received a fertile egg:

http://www.audubon.org/news/on-ground-us-navys-albatross-adoption-agency

What an interesting story! Sure hope the plan works. for posting.

Dot in PA

[Carol P.]

 

[AlisonL]

Very interesting information and video, Kris. Thank you.

[Kris G.]

Laysan Albatross' fascinating courtship dance (with moos and wing salutes)!

http://youtu.be/S-M0y5SSv0s

[AlisonL]

Thanks, Kris! I always love to watch the birds dance. They are so beautiful, with so much personality, and this is a particularly fine dance.

[AlisonL]

I was very sad to read this news about Pilialoha from the Cornell site, especially to have lost her in this way. 

December 19, 2017

Sad News About Pilialoha

We’re saddened to share news that Pilialoha, one of the mothers of the young albatross Kalama during the 2017 cam season, died after an interaction with a Hawaii-permitted Deep Set longline vessel while she was foraging over the Pacific Ocean. Her death was reported by a trained National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) fisheries observer. In recent years, fishing vessels in the North American fleets have made important strides in reducing seabird mortality from bycatch thanks to research and new safety techniques promoted by the NMFS Office of Sustainable Fisheries. These new measures are effective 90% of the time when ships use streamers to scare birds away from hooks, weight lines so they sink faster, and bait hooks at night when birds are less active.

However, even when vessels take precautions some seabirds are still killed. About 100 Laysan Albatrosses die from bycatch each year, down from a high of around 30,000 before driftnets were banned and longline safety measures taken. Research continues on the best ways to reduce that number—including a recent workshop in November involving multiple agencies and scientists. Seabirds who die as a result of interactions with fishing vessels (including Pilialoha) are also collected to provide valuable population-level information on demographics, distribution patterns, food habits, and pollution loads, with the hope of improving prospects for albatrosses and other seabirds in the future.

Although it’s sad to learn that Mahealani’s partner from last year will not return, there’s a good likelihood that she will find a new mate in future years and continue to be a productive member of the albatross breeding population on Kauai. As we say farewell to Pilialoha and look ahead to the next breeding season on Kauai, we encourage you to remember the best times of these past few years and also to treasure the time on cam that we get with these amazing birds. Thanks for watching—we hope to be back online sometime in mid- to late-January.

[Kris G.]

I was very sad to read this news about Pilialoha from the Cornell site, especially to have lost her in this way. 

December 19, 2017

Sad News About Pilialoha

We’re saddened to share news that Pilialoha, one of the mothers of the young albatross Kalama during the 2017 cam season, died after an interaction with a Hawaii-permitted Deep Set longline vessel while she was foraging over the Pacific Ocean. Her death was reported by a trained National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) fisheries observer. In recent years, fishing vessels in the North American fleets have made important strides in reducing seabird mortality from bycatch thanks to research and new safety techniques promoted by the NMFS Office of Sustainable Fisheries. These new measures are effective 90% of the time when ships use streamers to scare birds away from hooks, weight lines so they sink faster, and bait hooks at night when birds are less active.

However, even when vessels take precautions some seabirds are still killed. About 100 Laysan Albatrosses die from bycatch each year, down from a high of around 30,000 before driftnets were banned and longline safety measures taken. Research continues on the best ways to reduce that number—including a recent workshop in November involving multiple agencies and scientists. Seabirds who die as a result of interactions with fishing vessels (including Pilialoha) are also collected to provide valuable population-level information on demographics, distribution patterns, food habits, and pollution loads, with the hope of improving prospects for albatrosses and other seabirds in the future.

Although it’s sad to learn that Mahealani’s partner from last year will not return, there’s a good likelihood that she will find a new mate in future years and continue to be a productive member of the albatross breeding population on Kauai. As we say farewell to Pilialoha and look ahead to the next breeding season on Kauai, we encourage you to remember the best times of these past few years and also to treasure the time on cam that we get with these amazing birds. Thanks for watching—we hope to be back online sometime in mid- to late-January.

Such a tragic loss, after she and her partner had a very successful season raising Kalama.