Hawaiian Birds and Laysan Albatross Conservation

Laysan Albatross have made a major recovery from the first half of the 20th Century, when populations were decimated by feather hunters and military activity. Populations were greatly reduced by Japanese feather and egg hunters in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Untold numbers were killed as a result of military activities in the Pacific during World War II. Between 1954 and 1964, albatross were killed on Midway to reduce the risk of collisions with aircraft. And prior to banning drift net fisheries in 1993, tens of thousands were killed annually being caught in fishing nets and on hooks.

Over fifty percent of the total breeding population is nesting on the Midway Atoll, now part of the new Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument. Studies have shown that Laysan Albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) chicks are eating lead-based paint chips peeling off of 95 buildings left on this island, and that as many as 10,000 chicks may be killed annually by exposure to lead-based paint. Many Laysan chicks that nest within five meters of building structures exhibit a condition referred to as ‘droopwing’ which commonly manifests itself in their inability to raise their wings. Chicks with droopwing will never be able to fly, and will die of starvation or dehydration. Other chicks within close proximity to buildings also suffer detrimental effects from lead exposure, such as immunological, neurological, and renal impairments, significantly decreasing their chances of survival.

In 1991, a 50 Nautical Mile Protected Species Zone was established around the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (primarily to protect monk seals), and no longline fishing is allowed in this zone. In 2006 the Papahânaumokuâkea Marine National Monument was established encompassing all of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

The Laysan Albatross has been globally listed as vulnerable to extinction by the World Conservation Union. This species that lays only one egg each year and doesn’t begin to breed until it is 8 or 9 years old is slow to recover from increased mortality. But, the Laysan Albatross has recently expanded their breeding range, colonizing new breeding grounds on the main Hawaiian Islands, the Bonin Islands, and off the coast of Baja.