Falklands Conservation

NEWS DIGEST 10

From Falklands Conservation Newsletter 38, Stanley

February 1999

Oil Spills Clean Up Comes to Stanley

Jeremy Smith (Conservation Officer ) and Becky Ingham (Field/Science Officer) recently attended an Oil Spill Management course, run in Stanley by Oil Spill Response Ltd (OSRL) and funded by the Falkland Islands Government. OSRL, who have their base in Southampton (UK), are the largest oil spill response organisation in the world and last year prepared a National Oil Spill Contingency Plan for the Falklands. One of the major recommendations of that Plan was for regular training for those likely to be involved in responding to oil pollution incidents.

The Course was attended by representatives from the Falkland Islands Government, local businesses and Falklands Conservation. An intensive, but invaluable, series of lectures on all aspects of oil spill clean-up operations, was complemented by practical exercises. The final part of the Course took the form of a 'desk top' exercise, which had a tanker grounding at Volunteer Point. Those involved were able to gain some idea of the issues to be faced in the event of a real accident, and not least the need for co-operation between those involved.

Field Season 1998-99 Bites the Dust
by Becky Ingham and Nick Rendell

Between late October 1998 and January 1999 field trips were made to all the sites around the Islands which Falklands Conservation monitor each season to gather data on the diet and productivity for the various Falkland penguin species. This year the sites visited were: Bull Point, Volunteer Point, Port Stephens, Fanning Head, Seal Bay and Saunders Island, with the addition of New Island.

Figures were variable around the Islands with a generally lower than expected productivity for Gentoo Penguins. Unexpectedly, Rockhopper Penguins proved more successful than Gentoo Penguins this season.

Over the 98/99 season a total of 62 diet samples were carried out on Rockhopper, Magellanic and Gentoo penguin species. After analysis it was found that the highest percentage of the samples were made up of fish, which ranged between 55% and 88% of the entire stomach content. Another notable point was the drop, compared with last year, in the level of krill generally found in their diet.

This was the easy bit! The hard bit was the retrieval of the packs over December, January and February. We made several trips up to Seal Bay over this period, and attempted to find and then remove the packs. By early February we had all but one of the transmitters back.

The only other field trip made this season followed the death of what seemed to be an abnormally high number of Gentoo chicks at the colonies near Volunteer Beach. In the second week of January a day trip to the area allowed us to take samples of the dead young and observe the potential problems affecting them. After analysis by veterinary scientists at the Agriculture Department, it was found that the weight of stones in their stomachs (occasionally used as a digestive aid in the stomachs of adults) was too great accounting for their death. Anecdotal evidence suggests that unusually high temperatures around this period could have also affected the birds, as could increased numbers of flies in the area due to the dead chicks. Further reports will be available from the Veterinary Department when their analysis is completed.

Bird Sightings

Apart from the numerous reports of both Coscoroba and Black-necked Swans we have received over the last few months, there have been one or two more unusual sightings.

In mid September 1998 Gil Giles of Bleaker Island reported a Trudeau's Tern (Sterna trudeaui). This is possibly the first record for the Falklands of this bird which is normally found on the southern coast of Argentina. Gil also spotted two Cape Petrels (or Pigeons as they are sometimes known, Daption capense). These regular non-breeding visitors to the Islands are unmistakable with their conspicuously chequered black and white above, usually with two white patches on each wing.

In early February Mike Summers reported a 'stork' like bird flying down Stanley Harbour. From the description FC staff believe it may have been a Cocoi Heron (Ardea cocoi). This should be easily distinguished from the resident species, the Night Heron, as it is twice the size standing up to one metre high (Strange 1992).

Finally in early December 1998 we received a report of an albino Sparrow in the Fieldhouse Close, Stanley area, and in early 1999 the Pole-Evans on Saunders Island found an albino Gentoo Penguin chick.

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