For myself, seabirds will always hold a special spot in my heart. There is something special about seeing them in the wild, gliding over wind-capped waves. Last year as a matter of fact I observed more species of pelagic birds than ever before, so it is no surprise that my love for tubenoses has only increased over the last year. Unfortunately, so has my fear for them. Currently thousands upon thousands of albatrosses, petrels, and shearwaters die every year due to poor fishing practices throughout the world, and in particular in the southern oceans. Most of the deaths occur as bycatch in longlining industries which often seek commercially valuable fish that we the consumers purchase. It is a critical situation, and with 19 of the world’s 21 species of albatross in peril from these fishing industries, now is the time to increase our knowledge of them, as well as our conservation efforts to protect them.

I recently came across a website that does some justice to the plight of these birds. I have yet to really look over the site top to bottom, so while I can’t offically ‘endorse’ the site, I do believe that it is worth looking over:

http://www.savethealbatross.net/

In the future I look forward to writing a full-length article on this issue, that way it can be possibly have a place to look over the details of this situation in a summarized fashion. Anyways, check out the site, it’s worth your time.

~Chad (4/9/2006)