Rare bird found struggling in Ecuador had stomach full of hooks. Now it’s home

Overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the city of Anconcito juts out from the western coast of Ecuador into the strong waves.

It’s a life by the sea, and when one artisanal fisherman set out for his catch earlier this year, he noticed an odd bird. It was fluffy and gray and later identified as a rare Salvin’s albatross, part of a group of large sea-faring birds.

But it was struggling.

The fisherman called local authorities who came to look at the bird, and after consultation with a veterinary specialist and medical tests, they found that the juvenile bird had swallowed not only fishing line but also four hooks, according to a Nov. 4 news release from the New Zealand Department of Conservation and the American Bird Conservancy.

X-ray imaging showed the hooks lodged inside the bird’s body, and veterinarians took on a challenging surgery to remove the pieces without damaging the young bird.

“Thanks to the timely report from an artisanal fisher, we were able to rescue this Salvin’s albatross that had been grounded for several days in the port of Anconcito,” Giovanny Suárez Espín, Ecuador seabird bycatch coordinator for the American Bird Conservancy , said in the release. “Through coordination with the Ecuadorian Ministry of the Environment’s local representative and a specialized veterinarian, we successfully removed four fishing hooks, including one that caused injuries to its oesophagus.”

When they were able to see the material outside the bird, officials found it resembled the equipment used by artisanal mahi-mahi fishers, according to the release.

The albatross was rehabilitated and released back to the wild in a neighboring area in October, officials said.

Salvin’s albatross spend most of their lives flying and typically forage near New Zealand and Australia around their breeding period. When they do land to breed, they find rugged areas on “remote Subantarctic Islands” hundreds of miles south from their normal areas, according to the release.

Once they are done breeding, they fly up the Pacific coast of South America searching for food, where a young bird could have picked up some hooks and line.

The conservation status of Salvin’s albatross is considered nationally critical, but with such a wide geographic range, many countries contribute to their protection around the world.

“We work closely with the fishing industry in New Zealand and abroad to improve mitigation and minimise accidental deaths from bycatch,” Department of Conservation science adviser Johannes Fischer said in the release. “A better understanding of the distribution of Salvin’s albatross and other seabirds is crucial to help protect them. While we collect tracking data from devices attached to adult Salvin’s albatross, currently information on the movements of juveniles comes solely from observations.”

Salvin’s albatross populations have declined from 88,000 breeding pairs about 50 years ago to 50,000, and adults only start breeding at the age of 11, according to the release.

The birds lay one egg each breeding cycle, so researchers may not see negative impacts facing young birds reflected in the population for nearly a decade.

Albatrosses mate for life and return to the same breeding site year after year, even if they spend the rest of their time alone, flying across vast oceans.

Anconcito is on the southwestern coast of Ecuador.