August was a very exciting and busy month for me. I managed to complete three sea trips and saw lots of albatrosses and petrels. One of these trips was unique and I had some unusual experiences!
The first experience was rescuing a white-chinned petrel one evening that crash-landed onto the deck when pushed from behind by another bird. It flapped around on deck all disoriented and frightened, so I carefully caught it, let it recover for a moment and then released it. It quickly flew off but had completely scratched my hands to pieces (I forgot to put on my gloves!).
The next rather unusual experience on this trip was having two sub-Antarctic skuas sit on my head while I was working at the back of the vessel. On one previous trip I actually had five of these big seabirds sit on my head but this time I tried to take some photos which actually didn’t come out too badly.
The one skua stayed on my head for a fair length of time and the skipper of the vessel was even able to sneak up behind me and take a photograph. Then last but not least I also managed to take a short video clip of this beautiful bird sitting on my head.
The last most unusual experience on this trip doesn’t actually involve a bird of any kind but instead a small black and white feral kitten. I had been told that there was a cat on board by the crew, but when this tiny, terrified, blaze of black and white streaked into the accommodation and disappeared into the first cabin it saw, things really changed. It could no longer be ignored and I had to catch it (as all the crew were really frightened of this tiny hissing and spitting ball of fluff) and keep it safe while we were at sea.
I managed to catch it in a box, fed it fresh fish all day and fresh water and kept it in my cabin for the rest of the trip. It never made a noise or fuss and only broke out of the box once when the weather was very rough and it calmly let me put it back in the box. When we returned to shore it spent the night at my flat before I took it to the Animal Anti-cruelty League to try and find it a home.
This trip has been my most interesting; especially as I saw a seabird for the first time - a snow-white form of a southern giant petrel accompanied by a northern and southern royal albatross! Very special indeed.
I have worked as a fisheries observer since January 2008, while finishing my studies towards a diploma in Oceanography. I recently joined the Albatross Task Force as one of their instructors and am very excited as I love seabirds and love working at sea. Meaning this job is perfect!
I’m also really looking forward to working with the various fishers and fishing industries in an effort to reduce the seabird by-catch.
My first trip to sea with the ATF was a training trip with my colleague Bronwyn. It was wonderful having the female company, as most of the times I’ve been to sea I’ve been the only woman on board! Not that the men on board aren’t good to me, on the contrary, they have always been very friendly, helpful and looked after me as one of their sisters!
Bronwyn trained me well on how to collect all the data that we need on seabird abundance and the interactions with fishing gear. Fortunately, my seabird identification skills are good so I was able to keep up with Bronwyn.
I managed to get the first photographs ever (although not too good) of an adult Salvin’s albatross off southern Africa and even saw a spectacled petrel on our last day! As part of the trip objectives we distributed reading material and chatted with the skipper and crew about what part they can play in the conservation of our seabirds. They were very keen to be involved. This is very positive news as this company has not had as much seabird coverage as others in South Africa.
On my second trip I saw and managed to get some photos of a Sub-Antarctic skua with a longline hook sticking out the side of its mouth. This was a sad and important reminder of how seabirds are impacted by fisheries and shows that even discarded hooks have negative effects on the birds that follow fishing vessels. Part of the work of the ATF is to educate the fishers about not discarding fish remains with hooks still attached to avoid these negative interactions.
The fisheries observer work was very different to the seabird work but I really love our beautiful birds and am very happy to be part of a very dynamic team making an effort to conserve them.
During this year our team has been trying out experiments to test the efficiency of tori lines. For a few months we were working on the design of the line that we were adapting to suit the fishery in Uruguay. As we already knew through our experiences onboard, the tori lines in can sometimes become entangled with the fishing gear, which can lead to the captains and crew being reluctant to use them.
Despite this, our team has carried out work with the crews, in the ports and onboard to explain the use of the tori lines and the benefits they bring. They reduce the capture of seabirds and so leave more baited hooks that will potentially catch more fish.
As part of this work, I made a trip to Santos in Brazil to share experiences with the Brazilian ATF team, where I found Leo, Fabiano and Caio. It was a great trip and I learnt about the Brazilian technique to build tori lines that they use in ports all through Brazil. It was interesting to see how the fleet in Brazil has been using tori lines for a long time and how experienced the fishing crews are to the procedures.
Returning to Uruguay, we made a few adjustments to the tori line, using my experiences from Brazil, before starting our experimental work at sea. We checked it out over the first few days and made some subtle modifications to get it just right.
Having decided that we had reached a highly effective model, we started the experimental trials, using the line in collaboration with other observers from the Uruguayan Tuna Fleet National Observer Programme (Programa Nacional del Observadores de la Flota Atunera Uruguaya). We built a set of lines for all the vessels and in August began collecting the first sets of data. Meanwhile Martin was at sea on another fishing vessel carrying out the same experiment so that we would get double the information.
We are essentially looking at the difference between using a tori line and not using one. So far, the only seabird bycatch we have seen has been when not using a tori line. Although it is early days, this is a good indication of the results to come that will be used in direct action for the conservation of seabirds in Uruguay.
While we are carrying out these experiments the observers from the National Programme have also been using the tori lines at sea on the fishing vessels and have been reporting very positive results.
My last trip at sea lasted 15 days and was aboard a vessel dedicated to fishing for swordfish; it was also one of the vessels that we chosen to test a tori line. This is for the experimental work that ATF Uruguay is carrying out this year.
We set ten lines, five with and five without the tori line. Despite a couple of minor glitches, the tori lines worked well and performed their function of scaring seabirds beautifully. Without doubt, getting the crew used to using these tori lines is a bit of a challenge, as it means they have to do something different in their daily routine.
However, it was a great pleasure to work with them, finding the most comfortable way to incorporate the task into their day and trying to ensure that it would be as little effort as possible for them.
Watching with the crew, we found the predictable results that show the hooks set under the protection of a tori line caught no birds whilst the sets without a tori line ended with seabird mortality. It is an important step, introducing a tori line to a new vessel has to be done carefully and under supervision.
The ship’s captain slightly modified his operational movements whilst setting the line to help using the tori line, small measures to maximise the efficiency of the procedure. It was rewarding to watch as he noted how the seabirds stayed away from the hook line and baits.
During the trip we had good catches of the target species, again confirming what we have been saying all along, that the tori line not only avoids seabird bycatch but also the removal of baits from the hooks, which may imply a better fish catch.
We believe that it is good to show this to fishing captains, as they are the ones who take decisions onboard. If they are aware of the issue, they can take actions to avoid seabird bycatch and at the same time potentially improve their fish catch.
Martin.