Seabirds around fishing vessels

Albatrosses

A diverse range of albatrosses breeds in New Zealand, predominantly on offshore islands. Their large size and striking plumage make them easy to detect at sea. New Zealand albatrosses are grouped into three genera: the great albatrosses (Diomedea spp.), the smaller albatrosses (Thalassarche spp., also called mollymawks), and the sooty albatrosses (Phoebetria spp.). Within each genus, species can be difficult to distinguish. This could cause misidentifications at sea.

Diomedeidae
CC-BY, Dragonfly Science

Mean number of albatrosses recorded around fishing vessels during counts carried out by government observers, binned to 0.4 degree of longitude and latitude. The size of the circle indicates the number of observations, whereas the colour indicates the mean number of birds recorded during counts. Empty circles indicate that no birds were observed. The grey areas indicate water depths of less than 1000 m.

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