Orben et al. (2025)
Author Information
Scott Shaffer: San Jose State University
Yun-Xuan Lin: National Taiwan University
Rachael Orben, Leigh Torres: Oregon State University
Henri Weimerskirch: French National Centre for Scientific Research
Lesley Thorne: Stony Brook University
David Kroodsma: Global Fishing Watch
Dan Rapp: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Autumn-Lynn Harrison: Smithsonian Institution
In January 2024, Scott Shaffer (San Jose State University; SJSU) and Yun-Xuan Lin (National Taiwan University) traveled to Midway Atoll to conduct the third season of Laysan and Black-footed Albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis and P. nigripes) tracking funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. This project aims to understand fine-scale behavioral interactions between albatrosses and the fishing vessels they encounter across their foraging range. A portion of the birds were deployed with radar-detecting biologging tags to provide in situ data on vessel presence. This project is a collaborative effort between Scott Shaffer (SJSU), Leigh Torres (Oregon State University; OSU), Henri Weimerskirch (French National Centre for Scientific Research; CNRS), Lesley Thorne (Stony Brook University), and David Kroodsma (Global Fishing Watch). Additional field support was provided by Dan Rapp and the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge (NWR).
In January and February 2024, Yun-Xuan Lin, as part of her PhD research, tested the personality (boldness) of Laysan and Black-footed albatrosses. The test method followed Samantha Patrick and Henri Weimerskirch’s study on Wandering Albatross, evaluating “how individuals respond to a novel object”.
In 2024, a tagging project was initiated at Midway Atoll NWR to address the migratory connectivity and activity for two petrel species never previously tagged and with limited understanding of their at-sea distributions during breeding and non-breeding seasons. This is a collaborative project between Dan Rapp, Rachael Orben (OSU), Scott Shaffer (SJSU), Autumn-Lynn Harrison (Smithsonian Institution), and the USFWS. The project is funded by the Smithsonian Institution as part of The Migratory Connectivity Project. In late January and early February 2024, Dan Rapp deployed GPS loggers on breeding Tristram’s Storm-petrels (Hydrobates tristrami) during late incubation and early chick rearing periods. In late February and March 2024, Dan Rapp deployed GPS loggers on breeding Bonin Petrels (Pterodroma hypoleuca) during late incubation and early chick rearing periods. To address non-breeding distributions of Bonin Petrels, Dan Rapp deployed GLS loggers on breeding Bonin Petrels in May 2024 during the chick-rearing period with plans for tag recovery in the 2025 breeding season.
