1. Lesson 1: Introduction to Seabirds

2. Lesson 1 Presentation Content
Engage
Explore
Explain
Elaborate
Evaluate
– What is a seabird?
– Wingspan Activity
– Life Cycle & Adaptations
– Marine Food Webs
– Albatross Adaptations

3. Engage
What is a Seabird?

4. Black-footed Albatross Soars Above the Waves
Birds, like the Black-footed Albatross, that spend most of their lives at sea are known as seabirds. Discuss with students what it must be like for these animals, which spend the large majority of their lives at sea.

5. Seabirds live in many ocean habitats, from the Tropics…
Seabirds live in all the oceans – Sophie Webb painted a congregation of seabirds, tuna and dolphins targeting a school of flying fish in the Tropical Pacific.

6. …to the Arctic
Seabirds live in all the oceans – Sophie Webb painted a congregation of shearwaters, diving alcid seabirds, and humpback whales feeding in Bering Sea waters where prey fish are often found in great densities.

7. Even when nesting on land, seabirds spend most of their time at sea
Brown Booby incubating eggs.
All seabirds return to land to breed, except the Emperor Penguins that only need frozen ocean. But even when nesting on land, seabirds spend most of their time at sea. Discuss with students why seabirds do not spend much time on land, and the activities in which they engage while out at sea, e.g., feeding, flying, swimming, etc.

8. Seabird Biodiversity
Some of these species are very familiar—others are not. They come in many “shapes and sizes,” but seabirds share their dependence on the ocean for meeting their needs.
Brown Pelican – photo by David Gardner on Año Nuevo Island
Emperor and Adelie Penguin – photo by Noah Stryker at Cape Crozier, Antarctica
Atlantic Puffin – photo by Henrick Thorburn in Iceland
Western Gull – photo by David Gardner on Año Nuevo Island

9. Black-Footed Albatross
Ambassador Species
Laysan Albatross
mōlī
Black-Footed Albatross
kaʻupu
This lesson will focus on these two species, which spend their time traversing the Pacific Ocean (common English and Hawaiian names).

10. I now belong to a higher cult of mortals,
for I have seen the albatross!
- Robert Cushman Murphy
Robert Cushman Murphy (April 29, 1887-March 20, 1973) was an American ornithologist and curator of birds for the American Museum of Natural History in New York – and a lover of poetry.
Image: A Wandering Albatross, one of the largest seabirds in the world, catches an updraft from the MV Ushuaia research vessel in the Drake Passage. Photo by Kenin Turner.

11. Ocean Wanderers
Explain to students that these black dots represent the locations of 47 Black-footed Albatross tracked by satellites during summers. In Lesson 2, students will learn more about satellite tracking and mapping the routes of real albatross.

12. Where do they go?
The different color “spaghetti tracks” show the paths of 13 individual albatross that started from three locations: Kure Atoll, Tern Island, and Cordell Bank. These birds were tracked for only 3 months of their lives in the summer time. Satellite transmitters fall off when birds molt, or stop working for other reasons. Imagine if scientists could follow them for an entire year!

13. Zubenelgenubi
A Black-footed Albatross, named after a bright star called Zubenelgenubi, flew all the way across the Pacific Ocean in less than 2 months – from California to Japan.

14. Explore
Wingspan Activity

15. Laysan Albatross Shows Off Its Wingspan
The wingspan of a bird is described as the distance from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other when outstretched.

16. What is your ‘wingspan’?
Art at the Royal Albatross Visitors Center in Dunedin, New Zealand.
North Pacific Albatrosses are relatively small compared to albatrosses in the southern hemisphere around New Zealand. For example the Wandering and Royal albatross have wingspans over 11 feet!

17. Life Cycle and Adaptations
Explain
Life Cycle and Adaptations

18. Nesting sites in the middle of the Pacific
This is a map of the Hawaiian Islands. The green islands are the Main Hawaiian Islands. The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are a series of atolls, sandy islands formed around coral reefs. The black line is the border of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument established to protect the ecosystems and cultural heritage.
Learn how to pronounce here:

19. The Albatross Reproductive Cycle
Adults usually breed for the first time between ages 6 – 12 and can breeding every other year for their entire lifetime, which can last 60 years or more!
Mates return to the colony in late October and females lay a single egg in November or December. Both parents incubate the egg.
Chicks hatch January to February, after about 66 days of incubation.
The chick is attended continuously for about 20 days, guarded for another 10 days, and then visited by the parents only briefly to be fed until late June.
This slide describes the albatross reproductive cycle. Encourage students to creatively represent this cycle.

20. Albatross Gather in Colonies to Lay Their Eggs
Midway Atoll, an island in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, is a World War II battle site. Many thousands of Laysan Albatross raise their young here among the runways and military buildings.

21. Adult Albatross Perform Mating Dances
Two Laysan Albatross adults doing a courtship or mating dance – the many poses include “sky pointing” as seen here.

22. Different Dances for Different Species
The Black-footed Albatross perform a different dance sequence specific to their species.
Video of dancing albatross provided for download or online viewing at Ambassadors.org.
Video provided on website

23. Albatross Dancing and Mating
Video provided on website for download
Video “Nesting Hawaiian Albatross” includes albatross dancing provided for download or online viewing:

24. Albatross Egg
Female albatross breeding in the Pacific lay a single large egg in November or December. Two eggs in a nest usually means the pair bond is between two females. Pair bonds can last a lifetime or until one of the birds dies or disappears.

25. Laysan Albatross on the Nest
Albatross parents take turns incubating the egg for about 2-3 months.

26. Newly Hatched Laysan Albatross Chick
For the first few weeks when chicks are little, they require constant protection to survive the heat, wind and rain. If the island has predators, such as rats, they especially need protection until they are big enough to fend for themselves in the nest.
Note the purple plastic band on the parent’s leg with a unique number engraved on it. Biologists band albatross to follow individuals and learn about their lives.
Video “Nesting Hawaiian Albatross” includes a chick hatching out of an egg provided for download or online viewing:

27. Albatross Chicks Get Much Larger Prior to Fledging
As they grow, adult feathers replace the fluffy down.

28. Adult Albatross Feeding Large Chick
The parents feed chicks by regurgitating food and nutritious oil into their throats.

29. Video provided on website for download
Albatross Feeding
Video provided on website for download
Video “Nesting Hawaiian Albatross” includes parents feeding their chicks provided for download or online viewing:

30. Albatross Chicks Exercise Their Wings and Practice Flying Before Fledging
When their wing feathers are fully grown, they often exercise and practice flying by flapping and hopping, especially in the wind and rain.

31. Albatross Exercising their Wings
Video provided on website for download
Video “Nesting Hawaiian Albatross” includes chicks exercising their wings and practicing flying provided for download or online viewing:
Students will also enjoy a video clip with music from Chris Jordan’s Midway Journey film – Enter the Heroes:

32. Adaptations - Albatross Belong to a Group of Seabirds Called “Tubenoses”
Other tubenoses in the order Procellariiformes – Albatrosses, Petrels, Shearwaters, and Storm-petrels.

33. Adaptations – Salt Glands
A special gland allows this taxa of seabirds to drink seawater and release excess salt.

34. Laysan Albatross chick
Laysan Albatross chick. Close up of its nostril openings and grooves where water and salt flow out. Albatross chicks can be very curious and often approach people and cameras. However, like most wild animals, albatross chicks do not like to be touched or handled.

35. Adaptations - Wide Gape
Adaptations: Albatross feed almost exclusively from the ocean surface because they can only dive underwater a few feet. They eat primarily fish, fish eggs, and squid. Their wide gape allows them to eat larger items than you might think possible.

36. Adaptations – Webbed Feet
Webbed feet are well-suited for life at sea.

37. Adaptations – Dynamic Soaring
Illustration from WHOI Graphic Services, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Sailors of the Air
Albatross can travel long distances without flapping their wings They take advantage of wind generated just above the waves that allows them to rise quickly to 10 meters above the ocean. Then they glide downwind and enter another wave to rise again. This technique is known as dynamic soaring.
Illustration from WHOI Graphic Services, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

38. Elaborate
Marine Food Webs

39. Life at the Sea Surface
The ocean is Earth’s dominant feature.

40. Blue Planet
The ocean is Earth’s dominant feature. This Google Earth image centered in the Pacific Ocean demonstrates the large area of water compared to land.

41. Ocean Basins
The ocean is Earth’s dominant feature. Identify three of the five major ocean basins:
Left to Right: Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Ocean Basins

42. Ocean Basins
The ocean is Earth’s dominant feature. Identify the other two major ocean basins:
Left to Right: Arctic and Southern Oceans

43. Five Basins, One Global Ocean
An atypical view of the planet viewed from the south. Identify the continents and then the ocean regions.
Animated map exhibiting the world's five oceanic divisions (Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic, and Southern) that are connected and make up one global ocean.
Public Domain:

44. honu- Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle
Seabirds share their ecosystem with other familiar animals, like this sea turtle in Hawaiian waters.

45. manō - Shark
Seabirds share their ecosystem with other familiar animals, like this Mako shark.

46. nai‘a - Dolphins
Seabirds share their ecosystem with other familiar animals, like these Pacific White-sided Dolphins in waters off California.

47. Microbes Are the Most Abundant Organisms in the Ocean
Diatoms
Cyanobacteria
Phytoplankton, including these diatoms and cyanobacteria, convert the sun’s energy into sugars through the process of photosynthesis. This energy is transferred through the food chain.

48. Albatross Food Chain
This is a sample food chain (a simplified food “web”) for albatross.
Image credits: Phytoplankton: NOAA MESA Project, Zooplankton: NOAA/D.Forcucci; NOAA Central Library/Charleston Bump Expedition NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration; Dr. George Sedberry, South Carolina DNR, Principal Investigator, Fish: NOAA, NEFSC, Squid: NOAA/MBARI 2006, Albatross: NOAA Corps/Lieutenant Elizabeth Crapo

49. Sampling Plankton
Plankton nets, like these (a bongo net and a hoop net), are used to collect plankton samples for study.

50. Zooplankton
A close up of a single krill, a small pelagic crustacean related to lobsters and crabs. This group of zooplankton make up a critical link in the food chain of many ecosystems.

52. Use Agreement
This presentation was developed for Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary and Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument by Meghan Marrero of Mercy College and Oikonos - Ecosystem Knowledge.
Teachers, educators, researchers and students may incorporate these materials into their lesson plans, presentations, and worksheets in hard copy and digital format for internal educational use only, not into any publication for external distribution.  All photos, art, video and data have been contributed free of charge to create this product for educational use. Content may be copyrighted and/or owned by individuals and entities other than, and in addition to, NOAA and Oikonos. Credits for all the media are embedded or included, please retain credits when reproducing. No organization or person (whether an educational body or not) may incorporate this material into any media for promotional or commercial purpose whatsoever.  Please contact Oikonos or NOAA to request further use of any images, art, video, data or text included in this presentation  – we will contact contributing authors.
Contact: All resources for this curriculum are available at :
Use Agreement
This presentation was developed for Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary and Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument by Meghan Marrero of Mercy College and Oikonos - Ecosystem Knowledge.
Teachers, educators, researchers and students may incorporate these materials into their lesson plans, presentations, and worksheets in hard copy and digital format for internal educational use only, not into any publication for external distribution.  All photos, art, video and data have been contributed free of charge to create this product for educational use. Content may be copyrighted and/or owned by individuals and entities other than, and in addition to, NOAA and Oikonos. Credits for all the media are embedded or included, please retain credits when reproducing. No organization or person (whether an educational body or not) may incorporate this material into any media for promotional or commercial purpose whatsoever.  Please contact Oikonos or NOAA to request further use of any images, art, video, data or text included in this presentation  – we will contact contributing authors.
Contact:
All resources for this curriculum are available at :

53. Lesson 1 Presentation Content
Engage – What is a seabird?
Black-footed Albatross soars above the waves
Seabird Habitats, tropics to the poles
Seabirds nest on land, but still spend most of their time at sea
Seabird Biodiversity
Ambassador Species – Laysan and Black-footed Albatross
Poem
Locations of albatross showing their vast range
Travels of one Black-footed Albatross from CA to Japan
Explore – Wingspan Activity
Laysan Albatross wingspan
Birds and Human wingspan art at the Royal Albatross colony
Explain – Life Cycle & Adaptations
Life Cycle
Map of nesting Colonies in Hawai‘i
Albatross Colony
Mating Dances
Videos of Dancing (and a mating version) on website
5. Egg
6. Incubation
7. Brooded Chick
8. Growing Chick
9. Adult Feeding a Large Chick
10. Chick ready to fledge, spreading its wings
11. Video of chicks exercising their wings on website
Adaptations
Albatross are “Tubenoses”
Variety of species in the group “Tubenoses”
Albatross have a large gape for eating
Illustration of salt glands
Albatross have large webbed feet for ocean and land functions
Illustration of Dynamic Soaring, a low energy method of traveling
Elaborate – Marine Food Webs
Blue Planet
Ocean Basins
Other animals in the ecosystem – Turtles, Sharks, Dolphins
Microbes
Albatross Food Chain
Painting of how oceanographers sample plankton
Close-up of Zooplankton