Common Name: Waved Albatross
Scientific Name: Phoebastria irrorata

Distribution: Only breeds on two islands; Espanõla in the Galapagos and Isla de La Plata of the coast of mainland Ecuador. However outside breeding season the species lives a pelagic lifestyle and be encountered along the coast of Ecuador and Chile.

Biology: The Waved Albatross is the only species of Albatross with a distribution that lies exclusively within tropical latitudes. Like other species they are pelagic feeders, with their diet primarily consisting of squid, fish and crustaceans, and have been known to feed at night when cephalopods rise to the surface from deeper waters.
The species is know from its elaborate mating display, where the two partners with engage in a dance that includes bill-rattling and gaping, as well as prolonged sky-calls.

IUCN Conservation Status: Critically Endangered
The Waved Albatross is unfortunately one of the most endangered seabirds in the world. Like other albatrosses they are often caught and drowned during longline fishing, and are still experiencing targeted hunting along in Chilean waters, despite recent education campaigns to combat this practice.
Isla Espanõla, the most important breeding site of the species, is fortunately well managed by the Galápagos National Park, and the species is safe within the waters of the national park. However, global degradation of fish stock affects the species like many other seabirds, as does plastic pollution which is known to find its way into the prey of the Albatros, which can lead to suffocation and/or contamination.
Recent expansion of the Galapagos Marine Reserve will come as a well-needed aid to the species, and so will the continued conservational work carried out in the archipelago.