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In Chile we recently took part in the XXXII Congress of Marine Sciences, organized by the Marine Sciences Society and the University of Magallanes. This annual event brings together all the disciplines related to the ocean, and on this occasion we presented our work with albatross and fisheries. We...

The Albatross Task Force (ATF) not only aims to educate fishermen about the work we do and implement the solutions into tangible rules within the fishing industry, but we also aim to educate the public and other researchers within the realm of seabird bycatch. Once a team has implemented the best...

Hi everybody! I’m writing to share some news from my last trip in southern Brazil. I left port Rio Grande on board the FV Maria , a wooden longline vessel under the command of captain Beto, a new collaborator with Projeto Albatroz and the ATF in Brazil. Beto guided us out toward deeper waters...

I have just returned from another trip with Projeto Albatroz , this time with the 22 meter King of Tuna , where I enjoyed many new experiences at sea and also shared information with the crew about our wonderful seabirds. We left port Itajaí at 11:00 a.m with a full complement of nine crew...

The day was a Sunday and the weather was not so great. Gusty winds exceeding 5 on the Beaufort scale coupled with big swells of more than 4 metres in height pretty much dominated that afternoon. Intermittent gusts of wind made it difficult for standard fishing operations on the day but the persistence...

Hi everybody! I have good news from Brazil. The Brazilian Ministries of Fisheries and Environment signed a new law , that means any pelagic longline vessel fishing below the 20° S must now use tori lines during all setting operations and include a weight of at least 60 g placed no more than two...

Richard's Bay Over the last eight months I’ve been working off Richard's Bay, in the east coast of South Africa, collecting more data for the Albatross Task Force (ATF) research project which is seeking to determine how adding weight to the fishing line effects the catch rates of...

At this time of year in the southern hemisphere you can enjoy a stroll along the harbour and, in the evening, watch the vessels gently roll in with their ice boxes full of fish as they arrive to the bustling activity of the port. Over the last week I’ve been dedicating my work to this peasant...

I’m leaving for sea tomorrow on a tuna boat, hoping to have a good trip and that what I learn will be of use for the conservation of the seabirds we are working to protect. This trip is an experiment to investigate the efficiency of an under-water setting capsule to reduce, and possibly...

The big news from Namibia is that we have now begun our research project, and flown the first ever bird-scaring tori lines on a trawler in Namibia. This honour fell to the MFV Fisherbank belonging to Hangana, a Namibian company that has been very supportive of our work. The crew were fantastic, and...

Tori lines (or bird-scaring lines) are one of the measures most commonly used to reduce seabirds from being accidentally killed by longline vessels. In previous years we have undertaken trips on Uruguayan longline vessels to get crews to use them. Unfortunately, we've found that some tori lines...

I'm sitting in the port of Coquimbo in Chile, just about to set off for a month aboard a longline vessel. The fishing crew will be looking for swordfish on this trip. We've spent some time on trip preparations. We are going to try using time depth recorders. These small devices, no larger...

During the later half of June it was off to sea again on the Irvin & Johnson wet-fish trawler, the Stevia. Once again I was looking at making the tori lines (bird scaring lines) work their best to prevent seabird deaths. Naturally, winter is the season when seabirds are most abundant in our waters...

Three weeks after coming back from South America (January entry) I packed my bags and flew to the east coast of South Africa where I was planned to go to sea on a swordfish longliner for a two week trip. The week before the trip I spent in one of the jewel spots of South Africa, Sodwana Bay, the only...

Firstly I would like to say that I am very pleased to be part of such important team as the Albatross Task Force and very proud to be chosen among so many candidates. I felt very happy and enthusiastic to start my task in Itajaí port! I had the opportunity to go on the Brazilian Research Vessel...

I have been on the high seas fishing vessel Tami S II. It is the largest and most modern longliner of the Chilean pelagic fleet. This factory freezer vessel is 53 m long and can remain at sea for three to four month periods, setting lines of 60 nautical miles, each holding over 1,700 baited hooks. ...

The longline vessel 'Portugal II' sailed from the port of Coquimbo (30°S) on the 19th July, with a course set for Robinson Crusoe Island (33°40'S, 78°50'W) on the Juan Fernandez Archipelago. After three days steaming in rough weather and winds up to 30 knots, we anchored...

Hello friends of seabirds. At this time of the year it is very dangerous to sail here in the South Atlantic. To make you know how bad it is to navigate, when the FV Oceano Brasil reached the fishing area, and we started to fish, the wind changed its direction. So, we did the hauling facing a sea with...

We sailed to the south, and the sea is very agitated and I'm worried because maybe we won't set today. A day without working means one more day at the sea, which makes the fishermen upset. But I carry on testing different techniques to help save albatrosses. 17 June The fishing productivity...

Hi albatross fans! It's been a long time since the last time I wrote. Too much 'dry land' business which confined me to my mother city. However, we had a visit from Ben Sullivan, manager of the Global Seabird Programme. It was really great to finally meet the guy who runs the show. Lots...

Hello seabirds' friends. I am here to tell you the news from Santos/Brazil Port. As the summer is not a good time to observe birds here in Brazil, I have been preparing the vessels to start to test the bird scaring lines (tori lines). This equipment is essential for scaring seabirds while the...

I have decided this time to write my diary 'live' from sea. At the moment I am on my seventh day onboard the 'Saxon', a South African tuna and swordfish longliner which agreed to carry me onboard for the second time (first trip was last May). We are enjoying very moody weather which constantly...

Have you ever wondered what a thousand hungry albatrosses squabbling for food sounds like? Well, just a few weeks back I found out. The location, Danger Point, a scarily-named nautical location some 90 miles south of the most southerly point of the African continent, a place where the Benguela and Agulhas...

It's my last morning here, stumbling among tussac clumps worn smooth by fur seals, which the beaches are thick with. At seemingly every turn they lurk among the tussac slopes, with a growl, a yelp and stench. Found 15 giant petrel nests. Another few records to add to our ever growing database of...

You cannot visit South Georgia without feeling something about Ernest Shackleton. A true British - well, Anglo-Irish, in fact - hero in that he snatched a kind of victory from the jaws of desperation and defeat. He set out to make the first crossing of Antarctica, a fact lost in the epic struggle of...