The wandering albatrosses of the Crozet Islands

Henri Weimerskirch has been studying the wandering albatrosses that nest on the Crozet Islands for over 50 years. Out in the current issue of the journal is a new Synthesis paper Linking demographic processes and foraging ecology in wandering albatross—Conservation implications by Henri giving an overview of this unique 60-year study system. The paper presents the work carried out on albatross addressing questions on the links between foraging and demography, with a particular focus on age‐ and sex-specific differences and how this work was carried out in parallel with the use of new methods in biologging.

In this blog Henri shares some of his best photos from over 50 years of fieldwork.

The ageing of the researcher and the albatross: Top photo, a young Henri with a 10-year  albatross, bottom, an old Henri with a 50-year albatross.

 

A juvenile wandering albatross in its first flight over land before leaving for a 5 years stay at sea. Photo by A. Prudor.

A pair of wandering albatrosses on their nest. Photo by H Weimerskirch.

A wandering albatross colony Crozet Islands. Photo by Vincent Lecomte.

H Weimerskirch with a juvenile wandering albatross. Photo H Weimerskirch.

A wandering albatross in flight over a rough sea .Photo by Paul Tixier.

Male wandering albatross in flight returning to the colony. Photo by C Guinet.

A pair of adult wandering albatrosses on their nest, with a juvenile individual practising flight in the back ground. Photo H Weimerskirch.

Researchers on Crozet fitting a transmitter on a wandering albatross. Photo by David Gremillet.

A pair of young wandering albatross in the spectacular ‘ecstatic display’ used during pair formation. Photo A Prudor.

Find out more about the Synthesis paper in the latest In Focus by Sandra Bouwhuis On the ecological insights provided by a long‐term study on an even longer‐lived bird which takes a closer look at the paper.

References

Bouwhuis S. (2018) On the ecological insights provided by a long‐term study on an even longer‐lived bird. J Anim Ecol. 2018;87:891–892. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12836

Weimerskirch H. (2018) Linking demographic processes and foraging ecology in wandering albatross—Conservation implications. J Anim Ecol. 87:945–955. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12817