Section 98 - Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Wildlife Conservation Plan for Seabirds) Instrument 2022 - Wildlife Conservation Plan for Seabirds | Zoe
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Wildlife Conservation Plan for Seabirds) Instrument 2022
98Wildlife Conservation Plan for Seabirds
Start here
Get a plain-English read of 98
Turn the raw legal text into a practical explanation grounded in Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Wildlife Conservation Plan for Seabirds) Instrument 2022.
South Georgian Diving-petrel (Pelecanoides georgicus)
TABLE Species information for the South Georgian Diving-petrel
The South Georgian Diving-petrel (Pelecanoides georgicus) is a small stocky petrel similar in appearance to the Common Diving-petrel (P. urinatrix). The South Georgia Diving-Petrel has a circumpolar distribution, breeding on South Georgia (Georgias del Sur) in the south Atlantic and on the Prince Edward Islands (South Africa), Crozet and Kerguelen Islands (French Overseas Territories) and Macquarie and Heard Islands in the Southern Ocean. In New Zealand, it breeds on Codfish Island (del Hoyo et al. 1992). It breeds between October and February in colonies on oceanic islands amongst scree or volcanic ash above the tree line, or under sand dunes in areas of relatively flat ground. It nests in burrows with an end chamber. Little is known about its movements but it is presumably sedentary (del Hoyo et al. 1992). It feeds mainly on planktonic crustaceans, particularly krill, but will also feed on some small fish and young cephalopods. Prey are caught under water in a pursuit-dive or by surface-seizing.
Brooke (2004) estimated the global population to number around 15 million individuals. The population on Heard Island was estimated at 10,000–100,000 individuals in 2003/04 (Woehler 2010), with 3–4 pairs found breeding on Bishop and Clerk Islands near Macquarie Island in 1993 (Brothers and Ledingham 2008). Trends are unknown.
Invasive species remains the most pressing threat to the species. All known Australian breeding colonies are free from predators. Maintaining strict quarantine provisions at Heard, Macquarie, Bishop and Clerk Islands is essential. Habitat erosion after a severe weather event in 2003 has led to significant decrease in the species' colony on Codfish Island, New Zealand (Taylor 2013), habitat degradation is also occurring due to the expansion of forest habitat into the dune region and choking of burrows by the roots of invasive grass species (Taylor 2013).
Implement best practice quarantine measures at breeding colonies to reduce the risk of any invasive species (re)establishing on islands
Wildlife Conservation Plan for Seabirds 99
King Penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus)
Image unavailable in extracted text
TABLE Species information for the King Penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus)
The King Penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus) is a large penguin with striking orange and black head markings as an adult. Adults are up to 95 cm tall and achieve a weight of approximately 13.5 kg. The King Penguin is the second largest penguin species, following the Emperor Penguin (A. forsteri). Females are slightly smaller than males, but identical in appearance and juveniles are similar, with less pronounced colouration (Marchant and Higgins 1990). The King Penguin breeds on sub-Antarctic islands in the South Atlantic, southern Indian Ocean and the Australian sector of the Southern Ocean (Marchant and Higgins 1990). The species’ pelagic (oceanic) distribution is poorly known. The species utilises beaches, valleys and moraines free of snow and ice and with easy access to sea (generally within several hundred to 1000 m to the sea) (Woehler 2002, pers. comm.). The King Penguin feeds mostly on small fish of the family Myctophidae (lanternfishes) with some small cephalopods consumed in winter at Marion Island, Iles Crozet and Macquarie Island. Birds recorded foraging around South Georgia mostly fed on large cephalopods (Kondakovia longmania and Moroteuthis spp.). There is evidence of prey-switching during different seasons, which may be in response to seasonal changes in prey abundance (Marchant & Higgins 1990). Given the long breeding cycle, breeding pairs typically breed two in every three years if successful.
Due to the long breeding cycle of King Penguins, breeding is asynchronous within a colony and proportion of birds present do not breed. Consequently, it can be difficult to accurately estimate the total number of breeding pairs in a colony. Given these caveats, the total population of the King Penguin was estimated to be approximately 1.64 million pairs in the late 1990s (Ellis et al. 1998). The largest breeding aggregations have been recorded at Iles Crozet (700,000 pairs in 1992) (Woehler and Croxall 1997), Iles Kerguelen (240,000–280,000 pairs in 1987), Prince Edward Island (228,000 pairs in 1979) (Marchant and Higgins 1990) and South Georgia (400,000 pairs in mid-1990s) (Woehler and Croxall 1997). However, while some populations subsequently showed population increases (e.g. South Georgia increased by 11 per cent per annum since 1985-86; Woehler and Croxall 1997, Woehler et al. 2001), recent surveys have shown dramatic decreases at some sites. e.g. 88 per cent decrease from c. 500,000 pairs to 60,000 pairs at Ile aux Cochons, Iles Crozet over past 50 years (Weimershirch et al. 2018). Numbers at the Prince Edward Islands were estimated to be 65,000 breeding pairs at Marion Island and 2,000 pairs at Prince Edward Island in 2008 (Crawford et al. 2009), far below the estimates from 1979.
The Macquarie Island breeding aggregation increased at a rate of 9.7 per cent per annum between 1930–80, reaching 130,000 pairs by the mid-1990s (Marchant and Higgins 1990; Woehler and Croxall 1997), however this population increase has not continued (Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service unpublished data). At Macquarie Island, the number of chicks is estimated annually as a proxy for population trend estimates and, from 2007–2019, chick numbers in August ranged from 33,000–80,000 chicks per annum (Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service unpublished data). On Heard Island, where the species was believed to have been extirpated in the nineteenth century, the aggregation increased at rate of 15.1 per cent per annum from 1963–80 and >20 per cent per annum between 1980–1993, to reach a total size of 16,345 pairs at that time (Marchant and Higgins 1990; Woehler and Croxall 1997).
The King Penguin was formerly hunted for oil and the species was extirpated in the nineteenth century from several breeding locations, including Heard Island. However, the species has since re-established. The main threat for this species in recent years is climate change with warming oceans resulting in a decline in breeding success and adult survival (Le Bohec et al 2008). The species may be affected by current human activities near occupied scientific winter bases (Marchant and Higgins 1990). Marine pollution (e.g. oil spills, and ingestion of plastics) kills some birds, but this has not been quantified (Ellis et al. 1998). Eggs and small chicks may be lost during storms or other natural events. Skuas and sheathbills (Chionis spp.) take eggs and small chicks. Older chicks may die from starvation or be killed by giant-petrels (Marchant and Higgins 1990). Potential developing threats include competition with commercial fisheries for food, ocean warming and introduced disease (Ellis et al. 1998).
Implement best practice quarantine measures at breeding colonies to reduce the risk of any invasive species (re)establishing on islands
Photograph of an adult King Penguin
Wildlife Conservation Plan for Seabirds 101
Gentoo Penguin (Pygoscelis papua)
Image unavailable in extracted text
TABLE Species information for the Gentoo Penguin (Pygoscelis papua)
The Gentoo Penguin (Pygoscelis papua) is unmistakable and cannot be confused with other species in its normal range. The species is a tall black and white penguin of subantarctic and Antarctic regions with a bright orange bill and feet. Gentoo Penguins are defined morphologically as a single species with a northern and southern subspecies. A recent phylogenetic tree based on mitochondrial DNA showed a deep division between populations in the Indian and Atlantic oceans, with at least three distinct clades, two in the respective sub-Antarctic and Antarctic zones of the Atlantic Ocean, and a deeply divergent and unnamed third clade in the subantarctic Indian Ocean (de Dinechin et al. 2012). Breeding colonies are present on Macquarie and Heard Islands (Woehler 1993, 2006). The species nests on flat beaches or among tussock grasses in South Georgia and the Falkland Islands and in grasses at Marion Island. Further south, on the Antarctic Peninsula, nests are typically on low lying gravel beaches and dry moraines. Colonies are typically much smaller than those of other Pygoscelis species, with the largest including only 6,000 breeding pairs (Lynch et al. 2008). It feeds opportunistically and preys predominantly on crustaceans, fish and squid. It preferably forages inshore, close to the breeding colony. Winter habitats are less well studied, but available data suggest that it prefers coastal areas, while movements are more local relative to its congeners (Tanton et al. 2004, Hinke et al. 2017). Gentoo Penguins remain close to colonies throughout the year, with colonies occupied year-round. In the non-breeding season, colonies are used as roosts during periods of poor weather.
The global population is estimated at 774,000 mature individuals (Lynch 2013). Population trends are difficult to establish because of large year-to-year fluctuations in the size of the breeding population. The three most important locations, containing 80 per cent of the global population, are the Falkland Islands (Malvinas): 132,000 breeding pairs at about 84 breeding sites (Baylis et al. 2013), South Georgia: 98,867 pairs (South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands) (Trathan et al. 1996) and the Antarctic Peninsula (incl. South Shetland Island): 94,751 pairs (Lynch et al. unpublished cited in BirdLife International 2019). About 16,000 pairs were breeding on Heard Island in 1987-88 (Woehler 1991, 2006). On Macquarie Island, there were approximately 2,500–2,600 breeding pairs in 2017 (Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service unpublished data). Current population trends show a 50 per cent decline in the number of breeding pairs on Macquarie Island since 1984 (Robertson 1986), or 2 per cent per annum.
There are no major land-based threats to Gentoo Penguins on either Heard or Macquarie Islands, although it is possible that Brown Skua and overwintering giant petrels have increased their predation pressure on Gentoo Penguin breeding populations after the removal of alternate non-native prey (rabbits and rodents) on Macquarie Island. Terrestrial protections for Gentoo Penguins include the protection of breeding habitat and the minimization of colony disturbance during the breeding season. In the Antarctic, visitor site guidelines already specify minimum approach distances of 5 m and set off-limit areas.
Interactions with fisheries may pose a threat to the species through incidental capture in fishing nets and resource competition (Ellis et al. 1998). The species appears to be actively feeding on discards from trawling fleets, making it susceptible to bycatch, which potentially could be causing slow decreases in populations whose foraging range overlaps with fisheries (Crawford et al. 2017). Increasing oil exploration around the Falkland Islands is a growing concern for the species (Lynch 2013) and pollution from oil spills represents a threat on local scales. Historically, egg collection was widespread on the Falkland Islands (Clausen and Pütz 2002), and some legal egg collection still continues (Otley et al. 2004) and is strictly regulated; hence it is believed not to contribute to a decrease in the species. It is currently unknown what impact warming oceans will have on Gentoo Penguin populations.
Investigate the cause of the population decline observed on Macquarie Island
Implement best practice quarantine measures at breeding colonies to reduce the risk of any invasive species (re)establishing on islands
Photograph of an adult Gentoo Penguin diving in the ocean
Wildlife Conservation Plan for Seabirds 103
Rockhopper Penguin (Eudyptes chrysocome)
TABLE Species information for the Rockhopper Penguin (Eudyptes chrysocome)
The Rockhopper Penguin (Eudyptes chrysocome) is the smallest of the crested penguin group but larger than Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor). The southern Rockhopper Penguin differ from their northern counterparts in having a narrower supercilium and shorter plumes, which reach just over the black throat. The species breeds on islands located in the South Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans, ranging from 46º S in the South Atlantic and South Indian Oceans to Macquarie Island at 54ºS in the Southern Ocean, and a number of offshore islands in southern Argentina and Chile. This species returns to its breeding colonies in October, which range from sea-level sites to cliff-tops, and sometimes inland. Two eggs are laid and incubated during November and December for 32-34 days. In February, the chicks fledge and depart the colony (BirdLife International 2019). At most breeding sites, only one chick fledges, but there is some evidence that it is not unusual for Rockhopper Penguins in the Falkland Islands (Malvinas) to raise two chicks (Clausen and Pütz 2002; Poisbleau et al. 2008). At the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), hybridization occurs with Macaroni (White and Clausen 2002) and northern Rockhopper Penguins (Crofts and Robson 2016). Rockhopper Penguins prey on a variety of fish, crustaceans and cephalopods (Williams 1995), but there is individual dietary specialization during part of their annual cycle (Dehnhard et al. 2016).
Several populations have experienced major long-term population crashes. Approximately 1.5 million pairs are estimated to have been lost from Campbell Island (94 per cent of the original total) between 1942 and 1986 (Cunningham and Moors 1994), with a further 21.8 per cent decrease between 1986 and 2012 (Morrison et al. 2015). In the Falkland Islands (Malvinas), the population decreased by around 1.2 million pairs between 1932 and 2000 (20 per cent of the original total) (Pütz et al. 2003). At Staten Island, the numbers of Rockhopper Penguins decreased by 24 per cent between the censuses of 1998 and 2010 (Raya Rey et al. 2014). Between 1987/88 and 2012/13, numbers at Marion Island decreased by about 52 per cent, from 138,000 pairs to 65,000 pairs, equivalent to 72 per cent in three generations (Dyer and Crawford 2015). The long-term trends remain unknown for the Kerguelen and Crozet populations. Several other populations at the Auckland Islands and Antipodes Islands appear to have suffered severe declines of more than 40 per cent between the 1970s and the 1990s (Cooper 1992, Hiscock and Chilvers 2013).
Due to the difficulty in surveying this species (i.e. a high proportion of nests are cryptic in boulder fields and dense vegetation), population estimates, and trends are difficult to accurately obtain. In 1990, the population was estimated at 100,000–300,000 pairs on Macquarie Island and, in 1993, 166 pairs on Bishop and Clerk Islets (Brothers and Ledingham 2008). On Heard Island the estimate is 10,000 pairs and at least 10 pairs on McDonald Island (Woehler 1991, 1993; Ellis et al. 1998; Woehler 2006). Numbers on Macquarie Island were estimated at 32–43,000 pairs in 2006–2007 and work to develop and test survey methods to accurately estimate population trends on the island continues.