Blogs

Ross Wanless, South African regional co-ordinator for the Global Seabird Programme reports back from a seabird bycatch workshop in South Korea, with some promising developments: Asian longline fleets account for ~90% of the fishing effort that overlaps with albatrosses. This meant that getting an...

It's a great pleasure for me to tell you what is going on in Namibia at the moment, especially on the side of the longline fleet. Since February 2009 I have been organising a trip with one of the hake longline vessels so that we can get a better idea of the contact this fleet has with seabirds. I...

Hello companions, it is with great satisfaction that I'm sharing with you my activities. As Martin Abreu, an Albatross Task Force member working in Brazil, said recently, we are at such an 'important moment'. The Brazilian and Uruguay Albatross Task Forces are working together so we can find...

We are at an important moment for the team. Finding a bird-scaring line design for the Uruguayan fleet that works for their operations has been a worry for us since we started. We have been working to try and raise awareness of the seabird issue with them and developing ideas to stop the mortality of...

My first day finally arrived with some anticipation but also with some excitement. This was the day I was to set sail onboard a commercial trawler for the first time. This was my training trip for my new job as an Instructor for the South African Albatross Task Force Team. After two trips to sea had...

Well... first, before I introduce myself, I would like to share my happiness and enthusiasm to join the Albatross Task Force Team, Guardians of Albatrosses! I am very pleased to join this select group of people who dedicate their work and effort for this noble matter which is the conservation of such...

Last month we said goodbye to a special person, colleague, friend, albatross admirer, Samantha Petersen, who left the Albatross Task Force (ATF) after four years of managing BirdLife South Africa Marine Programme, most of the time being the only one on the team. On a personal note, Sam was the one...

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...

First, here's a little about me. I have always been fascinated by marine life and living in such a beautiful and diverse country as South Africa, really motivated me to work as a conservationist. My aspirations grew and progressed into a determination to study Marine Ecology at the University of...