Abstract

The Salvin's albatross, Thalassarche salvini, is a mollymawk that regularly visit the coasts of Chile and Peru along the Humboldt Current, occurring mainly as non-breeders. However, information on presence and distribution of this species in southern Chile (42°-57°S) is particularly scarce and limited to only a few observations, principally obtained in the inner fjords and channels, there is no information for areas more oceanic (continental shelf and slope). New records of Salvin's albatross were obtained in the development of a project assessment of the interaction between commercial pelagic fisheries and marine mammals and seabirds. The observation effort (census during hauling operations) covered all seasons approximately 1 year. These records provide new information on the presence and abundance of this albatross for a wide latitudinal range offshore in the southern Chile that is also an area of operation of fishing fleets (e.g. Patagonian toothfish fishery). Our results suggest that probably this species flies around the southern cone of South America via Cape Horn-Drake Passage to get to the Patagonian Continental Shelf in the South Atlantic Ocean, which probably could be occurring during the austral spring and summer. © 2009 Springer-Verlag.