Spotting one of the oldest snowy albatrosses in Australia: a personal reflection

Authors: Xu Shi and Yang Wu

In September 2024, myself and my fellow Fuller Lab member, Yang Wu, went on a pelagic bird watching trip in Tasmania. Intense stormy weather had actually postponed our previous attempt at making this trip, so a few months later, we were excited to be making our second attempt.

Both Yang and I are avid birders and have both travelled extensively in Australia, recording more than 400 bird species. But one major group of birds we are missing from our Australian lists: the seabirds – particularly the albatrosses who frequent the southern Pacific Ocean.

Image credit: Xu Shi

Based in Port Arthur, Tasmania, we took a boat around 30 kilometers out to reach the continental shelf. Despite the rough seas, we managed to see an incredibly diverse collection of seabirds, including seven albatross species! We saw dozens of Shy Albatrosses flocking near the boat fighting for baits, huge Royal Albatrosses circling around multiple times, as well as smaller, faster Petrels and Shearwaters cutting through the waves with their long, pointy wings. Together, we recorded 26 species on the trip including 18 pelagic seabird species.

The highlight of our trip was undoubtedly spotting an old Snowy Albatross (Diomedea exulans). The albatross stayed quite close to the boat for much of the time we were there, and because it was so close to us, we actually managed to see the glint of something white and realized it was a leg band. We excitedly realized that this meant we might be able to actually uncover the story of this beautiful bird.

Image credit: Xu Shi

With the help of a local expert who quickly connected us with other researchers, we were all delighted to learn that this particular albatross was approaching 43 years old – making it one of the oldest Snowy Albatrosses ever recorded in Australian waters. The oldest individual in Australia was a 46-year-old bird, recorded last year in Western Australia.

We learned that this particular bird was banded as a chick as part of the French banding scheme on the Isles de Crozet in the subantarctic Indian Ocean, more than 7000km from Tasmania. It’s a male who had its 43rd birthday on 1 October 2024.

Snowy Albatrosses were formerly known as Wandering Albatrosses, which couldn’t be more accurate. They are truly wanderers, often travelling thousands of kilometers across the ocean. They’re regularly seen on pelagic trips out of southern Australia. The Tasman Sea is one of the best places to observe these majestic birds. Adult Snowy Albatrosses breed every two years and take the next year off, so we could assume that this individual would likely be making its way back to the breeding colony soon.

Check out our eBird Checklist from the trip here.

Image credit: Xu Shi