Page 68 - BBC Wildlife Volume 36 #02

IN THE SOUTHERN

HEMISPHERE
THOUSANDS OF

PETRELS ARE
KILLED BY HOOKS

ON LONGLINES.

thousands of petrels and albatrosses are needlessly killed
by longline fishing fleets. Longlining is a method in which
fishing lines with thousands of baited hooks attached are
set over the side of a ship into the water column and left to
catch targeted prey over a period of time. This practice is
associated with the bycatch of many seabirds as well as non-
target fish species: the baited hooks make very appetising-
looking meals for birds, which get hooked and dragged
beneath the surface where they drown.
A GLOBAL PROBLEM
The good news is that in South Georgian waters, with the
help of the Convention for Conservation of Antarctic
many as 90 per cent of seabirds have man-made items, Top: with their Marine Living Resources, alternative fishing methods
such as balloons, in their stomachs,” says David Steel. meat-cleaver have been put in place to reduce bycatch. These have been
bills, giant petrels
Both species are largely monogamous. They lay a single a great success, reducing the incidental death of seabirds
have presence.
egg every year, which is incubated for two months. Chicks Above: there from thousands every year in the late 1990s to almost
are born white-grey and downy, but before they fledge are two colour nil currently. Other fisheries are now being encouraged
at four months old they moult this down and replace it morphs, white to introduce these simple modifications. Unfortunately,
and dark. Young
with darker feathers. As they age, most of them gradually however, many pelagic seabirds have massive ranges and
of the dark
become paler. After hatching, the chick will be guarded by so they simply end up in fishing areas that remain less
morph, as here,
one parent while its mate finds food, but they grow rapidly are sooty black. well-policed and where bycatch is still too high.
and within only three to four weeks both adults can head Hopefully we’ll find a way to help giant petrels thrive
out to forage, leaving the chick to fend for itself – very ably. across the Southern Ocean for centuries to come. In the
From afar the chicks may look vulnerable – but this is by meantime, I feel privileged to get up close and personal
no means the case. Most petrels create an energy-rich oily with these amazing – if somewhat gruesome – birds. After
substance as a biproduct of digestion, which they are able to a day in the field with them I’ve often returned
store for periods when without food. However, if required, + FIND OUT MORE to base bleeding from multiple peck wounds
this disgustingly pungent glop can be ejected over large O South Georgia Heritage and smelling like nothing on Earth, and several
distances to ward off an attack from the likes of a skua. It Trust: www.sght.org washes later may still be asked to sit at a table
may not sound like much of a weapon, but the oil binds to O Read Jamie’s blog post on my own for dinner. But it’s worth it.
feathers and can cause permanent damage. It also binds about South Georgia: www.
bas.ac.uk/blogpost/life-on-
to clothing and skin, as I know to my cost. JAMIE COLEMAN is a research
the-sub-antarctic-island-of-
Sadly, smelly glop is no defence against the impact of the south-georgia scientist working in South Georgia;
fishing industry. In the southern hemisphere many tens of www.jctravelography.co.uk
68 BBC Wildlife February 2018