Albatross predation of juvenile southern blue whiting (Micromesistius australis) on the Campbell Plateau

Abstract

Dietary samples collected at Campbell Island in summer 1997 indicate that southern blue whiting (Micromesistius australis) formed the bulk of the food of black-browed albatrosses (Diomedea melanophrys impavida) during the chick-rearing period. Birds preyed upon a single size class of fish with a mode at 80-90 mm standard length; fish were 4-5 months old and belonged to the 0+ age group. Satellite tracking showed that, when performing trips of short duration, adult albatrosses foraged within the 1000 m depth contour in the subantarctic zone north of Campbell Island. The feeding ecology of albatrosses thus suggests that juvenile (0+) southern blue whiting are pelagic and occur in dense schools in the top 5 m of the water column over the Campbell Plateau during the summer months. The high reliance of birds on juvenile southern blue whiting during the chick-rearing period has implications for the management of the southern blue whiting fishery and the conservation of black-browed albatrosses and other marine predators occurring in the New Zealand subantarctic area. M98078

Interannual variation in the diets of two albatross species breeding at South Georgia: implications for breeding performance

“…(1997); 10, Hunter and Klages (1989); 11, Waugh et al . (1999); 12, Cherel et al . (1999); 13, this study.…”

“…The fish component of the diet of Black‐browed Albatrosses is similar at the Falkland Islands and at Campbell Island, with M. australis the most important fish species. Around the Falkland Islands this fish is taken by Black‐browed Albatrosses as offal/discard from commercial fishing vessels (Thompson & Riddy 1995) but might also be caught naturally as at Campbell Island (Cherel et al . 1999); the size of M. australis eaten in these islands was similar, and much smaller than the specimens typically caught by M. australis fisheries (Cherel et al .…”

High occurrence of jellyfish predation by black‐browed and Campbell albatross identified by DNA metabarcoding

“…In these studies, jellyfish were detected infrequently (<20% of samples) and in low volumes (<5.3% by mass; Thompson, ). The single study on Campbell albatross diet also reported gelatinous organisms as a minor prey item (<2.3% by prey mass; Cherel, Waugh, & Hanchet, ). Despite the rare occurrence in stomach content, predation of scyphozoan jellyfish has been observed visually in black‐browed albatross (Suazo, ; Weimerskirch et al., ), and stomach temperature loggers and stable isotopes used on species in the same genus indicate their consumption may be more common (Catry, Phillips, Phalan, Silk, & Croxall, ; Connan, McQuaid, Bonnevie, Smale, & Cherel, ).…”

New insights on feeding habits of the southern blue whiting Micromesistius australis Norman, 1937 in eastern South Pacific waters

“…As a predator, M. australis feeds on crustacean (euphausiid and amphipods), small fishes (myctophiids), salps, cephalopods, siphonophores and other plankton groups. In turn, they act as a prey, feeding the black-browed albatross Diomedea melanophrys impavida (Cherel, Waugh, & Hanchet, 1999), rock-hopper penguin Eudypes chrysocome (Cherel et al, 1999), kingclip Genypterus blacodes (Dunn, Connell, Forman, Stevens, & Horn, 2010), southern hake M. australis and other species of sharks and rays.…”