38 Australian Geographic
WILDLIFE
sealers put an end to that. After
almost wiping out the island’s seals,
they turned to albatrosses and sold
their feathers as hat adornments and
for stuffing pillows and quilts. By
1909 the number of albatrosses had
plummeted to 250–300 breeding
pairs. That turned out to be a low
point from which the population
recovered steadily, until recently.
From the early 1980s, the island’s
albatrosses have been the focus of a
long-term scientific study that aims
to track their numbers and find out
where they go and what they do on
their travels.
Dr Rachael Alderman, a senior
wildlife biologist at Tasmania’s
Department of Primary Industries,
Parks, Water and Environment, began
coordinating the program in 2003.
She has been visiting the island at least
twice a year, sometimes four times,
ever since. Her visits coincide with
critical events in the albatross calendar- such as egg-laying in September and
chick-fledging in March.
The shy albatross, with a wingspan
of about 2.5m, is smaller than its
better-known cousin, the wandering
albatross, which has a wingspan of
3.5m. The global population breeds
only on three islands off Tasmania –
Albatross Island, Mewstone (10,000
breeding pairs) and Pedra Branca
(200 breeding pairs).
The shy albatross doesn’t range
as far as the wandering albatross,
which may circumnavigate the globe
for several years after it has fledged
and left the nest before returning
to its birthplace to breed. Non-
breeding juvenile and immature
shy albatrosses tend to remain in
the waters of southern Australia,
occasionally crossing the Indian
Ocean to South Africa.
When they’re breeding, wandering
albatrosses may cover thousands ofThe global
population breeds
only on three islands
off Tasmania.
Happy homecoming. There are four breeding
sites on the island – North (pictured above),
South, Main and West. An adult albatross
will spend, on average, five days at sea before
returning to its partner to relieve it of nest duties.