Satellite telemetry was used to identify the foraging distributions of two congeneric species of albatrosses that nest in the tropics / subtropics. Breeding Black-footed albatross (Phoebastria nigripes) and Laysan albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) nesting in Tern Island (Northwest Hawaiian Islands) and tracked during the 1998 breeding season (January - June) performed foraging trips to continental shelves off North America. Black-footed albatross made long trips to the west coast of North America (British Columbia to California). Laysan albatross traveled primarily to the north of the Hawaiian Islands, and reached the waters of the Aleutian Islands and the Gulf of Alaska. These albatross species mixed short and long trips during the chick-rearing period (February - June), but engaged in short foraging trips during the brooding period (within 18 days after chick hatched, January - February). In 1999, the breeding success of both albatross species was depressed, with a large-scale failure for the Laysan albatross. Out of nine Black-footed albatross tracked, two chicks died during this study. Out of sixteen Laysan albatross tracked, the eggs of seven birds did not hatch and eight chicks died during the tracking study. Due to this massive breeding failure, the satellite tracked birds abandoned their colony and dispersed widely across the North Pacific Ocean. Thus, the 1998 (central-place foraging) and 1999 (dispersal from colonies) tracking data they should be considered separately. The 1999 data provided information on albatross movements during a year of depressed reproductive success, when many birds abandoned the colony. An understanding on the interplay between the distribution and the reproductive success of North Pacific albatrosses has important implications for assessing how oceanographic variability influences their population dynamics. These albatross were tracked using PTT-100 Argos transmitters (Microwave Telemetry, Columbia, MD) operating at a 90-second repetition rate and programmed to operate on a 8:24 h ON:OFF duty cycle. Transmitter bench-tests before deployment revealed that the Argos location quality classes (lcs) had the following median position errors, expressed in kilometers: lc B (8.46), lc A (3.29), lc 0 (4.80), lc 1 (1.96), lc 2 (0.49), and lc 3 (0.26). The low-quality class B locations were discarded because they mis-represented the telemetry tracks. Thus, this dataset includes 4635 high-quality locations (lc classes A or better) with median positional errors < 4 km. We thank C. Alexander, L. Carsten, P. Fernández, F. Juola, P. Sievert, A. Viggiano and S. Wang for assistance in the field, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for logistical support. This research was funded by National Science Foundation grant DEB 9629539 to D. Anderson. Wake Forest University 2005-11-15 13:59:02.38513-05 seamap314 vector digital data http://www.wfu.edu/~djanders/anderson.htm http://seamap.env.duke.edu/datasets/detail_test/314 OBIS-SEAMAP http://seamap.env.duke.edu/ OBIS-SEAMAP ground condition 1999-01-15 00:00:00-05 1999-06-10 00:00:00-04 Complete None planned 140.054238.19751.25318.054140.054238.19751.25318.054 albatrosssatellite trackingNorth Pacific OceanHawaiiTern IslandNW Hawaiian IslandsNorth Pacific OceanCalifornia Current SystemAleutiansGulf of Alaska All limits on data accessibility pertaining to the OBIS-SEAMAP system apply to this database. 1. Not to use data contained in OBIS-SEAMAP in any publication, product, or commercial application without prior written consent of the original data provider. 2. To cite both the data provider and OBIS-SEAMAP appropriately after approval of use is obtained. 3. Not to hold OBIS-SEAMAP liable for errors in the data. While we have made every effort to ensure the quality of the database, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of these datasets. Shapefile David Anderson Wake Forest University mailing and physical address

Department of Biology Wake Forest University 246 Winston Hall

Winston-Salem NC 27109 USA (336) 758-5319 da@wfu.edu National Science Foundation Integrated Taxonomic Information System http://www.itis.usda.gov/ Downloaded April, 2004 Refer to the contact information of the dataset Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata Subphylum Vertebrata Class Aves Order Ciconiiformes Family Procellariidae Genus Phoebastria Species Phoebastria immutabilis Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata Subphylum Vertebrata Class Aves Order Ciconiiformes Family Procellariidae Genus Phoebastria Species Phoebastria nigripes Fernandez P., Anderson D.J., Sievert P.R., and Huyvaert K2001Journal of Zoology254: 391-404 OBIS-SEAMAP Nicholas School of Environment, Duke Univ. mailing and physical address

A321 LSRC

Durham NC 27708 USA 919-613-8021 dataman@obis.env.duke.edu http://www.nbii.gov/datainfo/metadata/standards/index.html Biological Data Profile OBIS-SEAMAPNicholas School of Environment, Duke Univ.mailing and physical address

A321 LSRC

DurhamNC27708USA919-613-8021dataman@obis.env.duke.eduNot to hold OBIS-SEAMAP liable for errors in the data. While we have made every effort to ensure the quality of the database, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of these datasets. Also please refer to Use Constraints.GCS_WGS_1984Decimal degrees0.0001670.000167D_WGS_1984WGS_19846378137.000000298.257224