Thesis (PHD)--University of Montana, 2009. / Contents viewed on November 11, 2009. "Major Subject: Wildlife Biology". Title from author supplied metadata. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2008. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the World Wide Web.

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Since the advent of the Internet expeditioners travelling alone or in small groups to remote locations have been using email and websites to communicate with sponsors, supporters, friends and family. This brings new communication opportunities to expeditioners and at the same time may be changing the expedition experience. The author used the experience of participating in an 11-month sailing voyage around the world as a platform for this research by project. The purpose of the voyage was to raise awareness of the plight of the albatross. The author examined how the Internet shaped this expedition, the purpose of expedition communication and how meaning was constructed for a remote audience. Using a constructionist epistemology, a phenomenological approach is used in the development and analysis of a narrative account of the voyage, its preparation and aftermath. The Exegesis contains a detailed account of one Leg of the Voyage, from Cape Town to Melbourne, with a particular focus on the online communications. A full account of the voyage, again with a particular emphasis on communications, is contained in the Durable Record. The potential availability of Internet communication was found to have been intrinsic to the design of the expedition and enabled the Voyage to forgo traditional media sponsorship and yet still attract and engage a worldwide audience through an institutional community website. The lack of use of the Internet's capability to support online discussion and build communities on this Voyage and other expedition websites sampled, is explored and it is proposed to be an expression of these expeditioners' possible disinterest in feedback. The building of online communities around an expedition website is suggested to be an area of opportunity with the potential to engage site visitors, to enable new insights to be gained into the life of expeditioners, and to provide greater exposure for sponsors. A simple classification of expeditions by their leadership, organisation, purpose and membership is proposed and the differing purposes of communication in each considered. The use of email on the voyage was found to facilitate and improve contact with supporters, family and friends. Whilst adding a sense of security it was also found to be time consuming, stressful, power hungry and to build a sense of obligation to communicate. Its general reliability led to exchanges on non-critical matters and to a reduction in the feeling of remoteness that some expeditioners may be seeking. Whilst on this voyage technical and budgetary constraints limited the full use of the Internet's capability to utilise text, images and sound to construct meaning, the effective and timely use of a short daily narrative, aimed at a known audience is demonstrated. The author justifies drawing learning from his participation in the Voyage through the use of experiential learning and reflective learning theory arguing that the preparation for expeditions, participation in them and mediated reflection following them, are rich learning environments provided that good records are kept, particularly a frequently written personal journal.

Albatross populations are currently in decline around the world. Survival and reproduction of these large pelagic birds depends mostly on the conditions they encounter in their marine environment. Their ability to range far across ocean basins exposes them to a variety of anthropogenic threats. It is thus crucial to understand spatial and temporal patterns in the distribution and habitat use of each albatross species during different stages of their annual cycle in the context of seasonally changing demands as well as environmental constraints, in order to develop effective conservation measures. Using Global Location Sensing (GLS) loggers I investigated the non-breeding movements and habitat associations of three threatened or near-threatened albatross species breeding in New Zealand’s Chatham Islands, the Chatham Albatross (Thalassarche eremita), Northern Buller’s Albatross (T. bulleri platei) and Northern Royal Albatross (Diomedea epomophora sanfordi), within South American waters. Chatham and Northern Buller’s Albatrosses mainly occupied waters with mean sea surface temperatures (SST) of 17-18ºC along the coasts of Chile and Peru, while Northern Royal Albatrosses were mostly found in 10-12ºC waters off southern Chile and Argentina. Monthly movement patterns were linked to seasonal shifts in temperature range, suggesting SST was an important environmental factor in explaining the observed spatial and temporal patterns. GLS loggers were also applied to study the patterns of movement and habitat use of Chatham Albatrosses when migrating across the South Pacific between breeding and non-breeding grounds. The route and timing of migration were consistent over the three year period of the study, although subject to individual variation. Stopovers on migration were found to be common, lasting between 3 and 26 days. Activity patterns suggested that birds stopped in order to forage en route. Lastly, I used high resolution Global Positioning Sensing (GPS) loggers to address the fine-scale movements and habitat selection of foraging Chatham Albatrosses over three years during early chick rearing. This is a time when their behaviour is expected to respond to increased energetic demands as they are feeding young chicks. Foraging trips lasted between 1 and 6 days and the foraging range rarely exceeded 400 km. The location of potential foraging spots varied between years, but followed non-random patterns in bathymetry, slope, SST and Chlorophyll a. The results presented here suggest that albatrosses rely on predictable habitat features but are flexible to respond to fine scale changes within their marine environment. The dynamic nature of both birds and environment may prove challenging but has to be taken into account in conservation planning.

An understanding of the spatio-temporal dynamics of marine predator populations is essential for the sustainable management of marine resources. Tagging studies are providing ever more information about the movements and migrations of marine predators and much has been learned about where these predators spend their time. However little is known about their underlying motivations, making it difficult to make predictions about how apex predators will respond to changing environments. While much progress has been made in behavioural ecology through the use of optimality models, in the marine environment the necessary costs and benefits are difficult to quantify making this approach less successful than with terrestrial studies. One aspect of foraging behaviour that has proved tractable however is the optimisation of random searches. Work by statistical physicists has shown that a specialised movement, known as Lévy flight, can optimise the rate of new prey patch encounters when new prey patches are beyond sensory range. The resulting Lévy flight foraging (LFF) hypothesis makes testable predictions about marine predator search behaviour that can be addressed with the theoretical and empirical studies that form the basis of this thesis. Results presented here resolve the controversy surrounding the hypothesis, demonstrating the optimality of Lévy searches under a broader set of conditions than previously considered, including whether observed Lévy patterns are innate or emergent. Empirical studies provide robust evidence for the prevalence of Lévy search patterns in the movements of diverse marine pelagic predators such as sharks, tunas and billfish as well as in the foraging patterns of albatrosses, overturning a previous study. Predictions from the LFF hypothesis concerning fast moving prey are confirmed leading to simulation studies of ambush predator’s activity patterns. Movement analysis is then applied to the assessment of by-catch mitigation efforts involving VMS data from long-liners and simulated sharks.

This thesis presents the results of an archaeological investigation of shell matrix sites, and in particular, shell mounds sites that occur around the shores of Albatross Bay, near Weipa on the north western Cape York Peninsula, northern Australia. It is the contention of this thesis that earlier approaches to the investigation of shell mound sites in northern Australia have tended to place too much emphasis on developing long-term explanatory models that gloss over explanations for the specific roles of these unique sites in past economic systems. While long-term explanations represent important contributions, it is argued here that short-term decadal scale modelling of the production systems associated with shell mound formation and use are required in order to fully understand the significance of the mid- to late Holocene emergence of these types of sites. A focus on production – defined in a substantive economic sense – is a suitable avenue through which archaeologists can expand our understanding of the role of these features in past gatherer-hunter societies, and their broader importance on longer-term time scales The thesis thus develops a detailed model of the production strategies associated with the formation of shell mound sites that occur around Albatross Bay, while also considering the broader significance of this model, particularly within the context of Cape York Peninsula. It presents the results of field surveys and excavations carried out around Albatross Bay by the author, as well as a detailed review and analysis of work carried out by others. It is argued that shell mounds are the result of relatively specialised production activities focussing on a very specific resource base: mudflat shellfish species. Shell mounds offered a range of unique benefits for people engaged in these specialised activities, including as camp sites and as specialised activity areas. These events were inherently flexible in size and in terms of timing, reflecting the dynamic nature of the resource base itself; yet the flexible nature of this production strategy also enabled more regular small scale social gatherings, along with a range of social and economic benefits to participants, than would have been otherwise possible. It is proposed that these types of strategies may represent an important characteristic of the production systems employed by gatherer-hunter peoples in late Holocene Cape York. Overall, this thesis makes a significant contribution to both our understanding of late Holocene lifeways at Albatross Bay as well as to our understanding of the broader significance of the emergence of shell mound sites in Cape York. Furthermore, it highlights the range of insights that can come from a focus on short-term modelling of gatherer-hunter lifeways alongside approaches oriented toward longer-term explanations of economic, social and environmental change.

Le Dynamic Soaring est une technique de vol qui extrait l'énergie du vent par des manoeuvres particulières. Il estdirectement inspiré par le vol des albatros, qui parviennent à se maintenir en vol sans battre des ailes sur des centaines dekilomètres. Les types de manoeuvres nécessaires ainsi que les dimensions de l'oiseau suggèrent un potentiel de transposerle Dynamic Soaring aux véhicules de faibles dimensions. Cette thèse étudie la faisabilité d'exploiter le Dynamic Soaring dansle but de longue endurance vol autonome. Modèles et simulations sont menées afin de dériver une trajectoire quimaintienne le véhicule en vol sans apport d'énergie interne et d'étudier la physique de ce vol particulier,. Ensuite, larecherche se concentre sur l'influence des variables d'environnement et du cap de vol sur les sur les performances parDynamic Soaring. / Dynamic Soaring is a flight technique which extracts energy from the wind through particular maneuvers. It is directlyinspired by the flight of Albatrosses, which manage to sustain non-flapping flight for hundred of miles. The types ofrequired maneuvers as well as dimensions of the bird suggest a potential to transpose Dynamic Soaring to small dimensionvehicles. This PhD investigates the feasibility to extract energy by Dynamic Soaring in the purpose of long enduranceautonomous flight. Models and simulation are conducted in order to investigate the physics of this particular flight as wellas the feasibility to derive a trajectory which keep the vehicle aloft without internal energy contribution. Then the researchfocuses on the influence of environment variables and of travel heading on Dynamic Soaring performances.

Most albatrosses are critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable due to the deleterious impact of fisheries, pollution, introduced species, habitat alteration, and climate change. Foraging behaviour influences many aspects of seabird biology, and a detailed understanding of foraging ecology is required to better predict the impacts of significant changes to the marine environment. Campbell Albatross (Thalassarche impavida) is a threatened endemic, confined to a small number of locations on Campbell Island, New Zealand and was recently split from the closely related Black-browed Albatross (T. melanophrys). We currently lack much basic information on the foraging behaviour of this species, hindering our ability to understand how change may have occurred in the past and make predictions about it’s long-term future. First, I used GPS loggers and stable isotope analysis of blood to investigate how distribution and foraging effort (distance travelled and duration) varied with sex and breeding stage. I found that Campbell Albatrosses are sexually dimorphic and showed sex-specific foraging behaviour and habitat use – although this varied by stage of reproduction. Because males and females may be vulnerable to different threats, such as interactions with fisheries, I compared the spatial overlap and high resolution spatio-temporal overlaps between fisheries vessels and albatrosses within New Zealand’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Albatrosses utilised 32% of the EEZ, however they overlapped with fisheries vessels in only 0.20% of the area. Previous research has demonstrated that the influence of fisheries vessels goes beyond the immediate location of the boat itself. Campbell Albatross have low levels of spatio-temporal overlap with fisheries – with males overlapping more than females. More generally, my results indicate that adding data on fine scale interactions will improve fisheries risk assessments, and provide information needed for the conservation and management of the Campbell Albatross. A key development in recent ecological research has been a greater appreciation that inter-individual variation in foraging behaviour can have profound population-level consequences. Accordingly I tested for individual differences in foraging behaviour in Campbell Albatrosses. The majority of individuals demonstrated both annual and inter-annual individual consistency in foraging locations, and the degree of specialisation was influenced by both sex and year. Consistent terminal latitude and longitude of foraging trips indicated high foraging area fidelity with a degree of flexibility in the fine-scale location. During brooding, females used the Campbell Plateau and showed more consistent behaviours than males, which tended to forage in the Southern Ocean. This adds to a growing body of evidence of individual foraging specialisation among seabirds in general and albatrosses in particular and reveals marked inter-individual differences in vulnerability to threats. In light of the evidence of individual foraging specialisations in the Campbell albatross, I also preformed a literature review of individual foraging specialisations across all seabirds. I found studies examining foraging specialisation for 35 species, with 28 (80%) providing evidence of consistent inter-individual differences (i.e. specialisation). Current studies suggest that specialisation is influenced by environmental variability and resource predictability, however, with limited data in tropical regions, more studies are needed to test these links. In summary, my thesis has provided new information on Campbell Albatross foraging ecology. Sex specific variations in behaviour and habitat use may influence conservation and management strategies. I have been able to contextualise the consistent individual differences in foraging distribution described for this species in light of global patterns of individual foraging specialisation in seabirds and highlight future areas of research.

Among the species of Diomedea albatrosses, diverse foraging strategies during breeding have been described, indicating species differences in foraging ecology and behaviour. Foraging strategies of Southern Royal Albatrosses, Diomedea epomophora (SRA) breeding on Campbell Island were studied in January – early February 1999 during the latter half of incubation. Movements and activity of ten birds were monitored using satellite transmitters and wet-dry activity recorders. Three birds from a pilot tracking study in February 1997 were also included in some analyses. Foraging strategies, zones used, factors influencing the duration of foraging trips, and the influence of wind conditions were investigated. Foraging activity took place at sites with bathymetric characteristics associated with high productivity: outer shelf and shelf-break zones, with a concentration of activity on a shelf contour south of the Snares Islands. This is in contrast to Wandering (D. exulans) and Gibson’s (D. gibsoni) albatrosses, typically deep oceanic foragers, but is similar to Northern Royal Albatross (D. sanfordi). The maximum distance of foraging trips from the colony was 1250 kilometres (mean 584 +351(SD)). This was closer than for incubating Wandering and Gibson’s Albatrosses but more distant than for Northern Royal Albatross from the Otago Peninsula. The mean duration of 77 foraging trips from 52 nests was 10.11 days for females and 8.76 for males (ns). Foraging trips became shorter as incubation progressed. Foraging trips were shorter, but not significantly so, when the median wind speed throughout the foraging trip was higher. No significant relationship was found between bird mass and duration of foraging trips. The mean cumulative distance flown by the ten birds tracked in 1999 was 4262 km + 1318 (SD). Eight of the ten SRA employed a ‘commute, forage, commute’ foraging strategy, and the other two alternated short bouts of commuting and foraging. Commuting phases were characterised by rapid directional flight with a straight-line distance (range) of 180 km to 800 km between positions 24 hours apart. Foraging phases were characterised by a range of less than 180 km per 24 hour interval and frequent tight turns. Displacement rate between successive uplinks was significantly higher during commuting phases (28.6 kph + 1.93 SE) than foraging phases (15.1 kph + 1.4 SE). Wind strength and direction influenced the timing of the return commute to the colony. SRA covered greater distances at more favourable wind angles relative to flight track (broad reach and close reach) than in head, tail or direct side winds. Birds of low mass (< 8kg) made fewer landings in winds above 40 kph than in lighter winds, whereas heavier birds had a similar level of landing activity across all wind speed bands. One bird was delayed for several days by light winds, and another flew off course during strong winds. Two birds exploited the same window of wind conditions to return to the colony, each flying a similar course in both timing and route. These results define the foraging strategies of SRA during incubation, and demonstrate the influence of wind conditions and other factors on the overall duration of foraging trips and on the timing of commuting and foraging phases.