Encounters with the Albatross II

 

White-capped Albatross (Thalassarche steadi).
Stewart Island, New Zealand.  

Pelagic cruises off the coast of New Zealand give unmatched views of many different seabirds.  Our recent trip yielded six species of albatrosses and a dazzling selection of other birds.  Here is more of what we saw in New Zealand waters.

Hutton's Shearwater (Puffinus huttoni).
Kaikoura Peninsula, New Zealand. 

Hutton's Shearwaters.
Kaikoura Peninsula, New Zealand. 

Hutton’s Shearwaters (Puffinus huttoni) are small seabirds with a 30-inch wingspan.  They are brown above and white below.  Hutton’s Shearwaters nest on the mainland rather than offshore islands and this makes them vulnerable to introduced predators, particularly pigs that root the young birds from their burrows. The Kaikoura Mountains host the only two natural breeding colonies of Hutton’s Shearwaters in the world.  Because of their limited breeding area and other threats Hutton’s Shearwaters are an endangered species, so conservationists established a nesting colony surrounded by a predator-proof fence on the Kaikoura Peninsula.  We were lucky enough to see many thousands of Hutton’s Shearwaters flying and fishing in large flocks in the waters off Kaikoura.

Sooty Shearwater (Ardenna grisea).
Foveaux Strait, New Zealand. 

Sooty Shearwaters (Ardenna grisea) are dark gray-brown and have a 3.5-foot wingspan.  They nest on sub-Antarctic islands in the South Atlantic and South Pacific.  After Sooty Shearwaters raise their young, they undertake an epic migration, taking a figure-eight route across the great oceans.  Some birds fly 300 miles a day and during their migration can cover 40,000 miles before returning to their breeding colony.  We found Sooty Shearwaters flying in the Foveaux Strait and off Dunedin.  

Westland Petrel (Procellaria westlandica).
Kaikoura Peninsula, New Zealand.

Westland Petrels (Procellaria westlandica) are a larger than Sooty Shearwaters and breed only in New Zealand.  After the breeding season they disperse west to Australia and east to South America.  Like Hutton’s Petrels, these dark brown birds nest in burrows on the mainland but because of their size and strong beak can protect themselves from nest predators such as dogs.  

Southern Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialoides).
Kaikoura Peninsula, New Zealand.

Southern Fulmars (Fulmarus glacialoides) are classified in the family Procellariidae along with the albatrosses, shearwaters and petrels but they bear a strong resemblance to gulls.  They have a circumpolar distribution around Antarctica and reach the southern ends of South America, Africa, Australia and most of the waters surrounding New Zealand.  These pale birds fly low over the surface and join flocks of other sea birds to feed on squid, small fish and crustaceans.  

Pintado Petrel (Daption capense).
Stewart Island, New Zealand. 

Pintado Petrel.
Kaikoura Peninsula, New Zealand. 

Pintado Petrel.
Kaikoura Peninsula, New Zealand. 

Pintado Petrels (Daption capense) are known by several names, Cape Petrels, Cape Fulmars and even Cape Pigeons.  Whatever the name these striking black-and-white petrels command attention.  They are small, travel in large flocks and sometimes follow boats where they catch small prey on the surface.  Pintado Petrels breed on the Antarctic coast and southern islands throughout the Southern Ocean.  After the breeding season they travel north but are restricted to the Southern Hemisphere.  Pintado Petrels were the most numerous seabirds on our pelagic cruises. 

Brown Skua (Stercorarius antarcticus).
Stewart Island, New Zealand.

Brown Skuas (Stercorarius antarcticus) are large, impressive birds related to gulls and terns.  They are dark brown with white patches on the wings.  Brown Skuas are top predators in the sub-Antarctic where they feed on fish, some of which they steal from other seabirds.  Brown Skuas also eat other birds, including penguin chicks, mammals and carrion.  A single Brown Skua flew a dozen laps around our boat off Stewart Island, giving us a close look.   

The word albatross has an interesting history.  It is derived from the archaic Spanish and Portuguese word alcatraz.  This name was applied to large seabirds including pelicans and gannets.  Alcatraz Island with its notorious federal prison in San Francisco Bay was named for the seabirds that nested there. When European sailors started venturing into the South Atlantic and Pacific, they found their ships being followed, sometimes for days, by giant white seabirds.  English sailors corrupted alcatraz to albatross, converting alca to alba, the Latin word for white, to give us the name albatross. 

Albatrosses had significant meaning to early sailors.  The bird was viewed as a symbol of good fortune.  Some thought they were the souls of lost seamen, following ships to get a glimpse of their former lives.  Samuel Taylor Coleridge immortalized these ideas in his 18^th century epic poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.  In the poem, the Ancient Mariner kills an albatross and brings disaster to his ship and his crewmates.  To atone for his crime the Ancient Mariner is forced to wear the dead albatross tied about his neck .  This idea comes down to us today.  If someone is carrying a heavy burden of guilt they are said to have an albatross around their neck.  

White-capped Albatross.
Stewart Island, New Zealand. 

White-capped Albatross.
Stewart Island, New Zealand. 

We saw several species of albatrosses on the Stewart Island pelagic.  There were about 40 White-capped Albatrosses (Thalassarche steadi) flying around the boat and landing on the water.  White-capped Albatrosses are endemic to New Zealand and have an 8.5-foot wingspan, are gray on the face, have a white cap and a gray beak with a yellow trip.  Juvenile birds can range as far as the Indian Ocean and the South Atlantic. 

Buller's Albatross (Thalassarche bulleri).
Steward Island, New Zealand. 

Buller's Albatross.
Stewart Island, New Zealand. 

Buller's Albatross.
Stewart Island, New Zealand. 

As we watched the White-capped Albatrosses a lone Buller’s Albatross (Thalassarche bulleri) appeared.  This small albatross has a wingspan of about six feet, a gray head, black wings and a black bill with yellow on the top and tip.  Buller’s Albatrosses breed on islands south of New Zealand.  After the breeding season some fly west to Australia and others cross the South Pacific to the waters off South America.  The Buller’s Albatross stayed with our boat for a few minutes and then was off.   Southern Royal Albatrosses (Diomedea epomorphora) were also off Stewart Island, and I described our encounter with them in a previous blog post.  

Northern Royal Albatross (Diomedea sanfordi).
Taiaroa Head, New Zealand. 

The Northern Royal Albatross (Diomedea sanfordi) is the largest of all the albatrosses with wings that stretch more than 10 feet. They have dark upper wings, white heads and bodies and pink bills.  Like their close relatives the Southern Royal Albatrosses they have a black line where the upper and lower mandibles meet.  As with most Albatrosses, Northern Royals typically breed on offshore islands. Taiaroa Head, near Dunedin, hosts the only mainland breeding colony of Northern Royal Albatrosses in the world.  This is where we saw them flying over the sea and setting up nests on the cliffs. 

Northern Royal Albatrosses on their nests.
Taiaroa Head, New Zealand. 

Our pelagic trips in New Zealand gave us intimate encounters with six different species albatrosses and many other types of seabirds.  They ranged in size from the tiny Common Diving Petrel to the enormous Northern Royal Albatross.  These birds lead lives in one of the harshest and most starkly beautiful environments on the planet.  Many of these birds are threatened or endangered and  I feel privileged to have spent a little time with them.