Sea Birds

THE SEA BIRDS OF THE ANTARCTIC

A list of sea birds of the Antarctic is roughly as follows: Great albatross, Small and Medium albatross, Black-browed albatross, Sooty albatross, Southern giant petrel and Distinct petrel, Gadfly petrel, Procellaria petrel and Shearwater, Storm petrel, Blue petrel and Diving-petrels, Snowy sheathbill, Blue-eyed Cormorants and Shags, Large skua, Stercorarius skua, and finally Gulls and confusingly similair Arctic and Antarctic terns.

The above listing is only a taster of the sea birds that can be sighted during the passage from Cape Horn to Antarctica. Antarctic-bound vessels have recorded thirty-seven different pelagic bird observations, so it is impossible to do this subject any justice in a half-page overview.

Some fifteen of these birds are known to be breeding in the South Shetland Islands, and on the Antarctic Peninsula.

About 43 species of bird breed within the limits of the Antarctic Convergence. Penguins are the ones that people naturally think of first and assume are the most prolific. Wrong! The petrels or `tube noses’ are far and away the most prolific Antarctic bird.

Not surprisingly, most Antarctic birds are sea birds, generally larger than land birds, with dense plumage that protects them against the chill of the icy Southern Ocean. Feeding at sea and using the coasts only for breeding, Antarctic sea birds have flourished for thousands of years.

Two of the largest and longest-winged birds on Earth are the Wandering and Royal albatross, both having a wingspan that can exceed 3 metres. The former will be seen frequently, gliding effortlessly close to the ship during the Drake crossing, but neither breed in Antarctica, unlike the Southern Giant Petrel which can be found breeding on the Peninsula. Another non-breeding Antarctic bird is the South polar skua. Whilst land-based protection policies are producing significant successes, a new threat has risen at sea: longlining, a practice of trailing lines as long as 100km plus, from the back of fishing vessels attached with up to 40,000 baited hooks. Around 60 species of seabirds have been recorded as a by-catch of these operations, after becoming snared on the hook and subsequently drowning.

It’s now known that twenty-six species of albatross and petrel are globally threatened, largely due to these activities, and most are Southern Ocean breeders.