Colbert (84322)

Albatross Dispersal from Kure Atoll - 2008

A project of Albatross Conservation Collaborative.

click map for full-size version Movements of a Black-footed Albatross equipped with a satellite-linked transmitter programmed to operate on a 60-second repetition rate continuously. Only good quality locations (classes 1, 2, 3, 0) are shown as connected filled circles, with the color indicating the timing of the location. Poor quality locations (classes A and B) are shown as black dots.

Full-Size Map (86KB)
Zoom Map (70KB)

Species: Black-footed Albatross
Life Stage: Adult (6 yrs)
Gender: Unknown
Release Date: 2008-05-28 20:35:00
Release Location: Kure Atoll, NWHI
Last Location: 2008-07-17 00:22:42

Background

This albatross is an age class 3 bird, with the white rump characteristic of breeding-age individuals (> 4 yrs), and weighed 2700 grams. In fact, because this individual was banded in the past (band number 1517-6439), we know that it was born in Kure Atoll during the 2001 - 2002 breeding season.



This bird was tracked for 50 days, 5 below the anticipated 55-day battery life-span. The sensor data transmitted by the tag revealed that the voltage did not dropped precipitously during the last few days of transmissions, suggesting that the two AA batteries were not exhausted. Thus, the likely explanation for the premature loss of transmissions is that the tag fell off when the bird molted its back feathers.

7593134