There are two species of royal albatross; southern royals breed mainly on Campbell Island, while northern royal albatrosses are slightly smaller and breed at the Chatham Islands and at Taiaroa Head near Dunedin.
Department of Conservation scientist Peter Moore has been studying and surveying southern royal albatrosses on Campbell Island for the last 20 years. From the 1940s on, about 35,000 albatrosses were fitted with leg bands, and this summer was the final year in a five-year effort to remove these bands from most birds.
Peter and his team have established a 200-hectare study area, within which birds have been re-banded and fitted with transponders.
Royal albatrosses displaying on Campbell Island (image: Alison Ballance).
