Photos of the flying White Chinned Petrel (Procellaria aequinoctialis) on the open sea, off the coast of South Africa

White-chinned Petrels (Procellaria aequinoctialis) are smaller than albatrosses, they have a wingspread of between 1.3 and 1.4 metres and weigh up to 1.4 kilograms. In the
Cape region they are found all year round.
White-chinned Petrels follow boats, especially fish trawlers. They are good divers
and especially endangered by longlines.
Many White-chinned Petrels, Masked Boobies, Laysan, Black-footed and Wandering Albatrosses as well as other sea birds die from the hooks of the long-line fishery. There are lines with a length of more than 100 kilometres with more than 20,000 hooks to which the fish baits are attached. As soon as the lines are let down from the boat into the water, the birds try to catch the easy prey. Often they get caught in the hooks and drown as soon as the line falls down through their weight.
Longlines have disastrous consequences in every aspect, leaving behind a desert landscape in the sea.

Flying White chinned Petrel (Procellaria aequinoctialis)

Flying White chinned Petrel

Flying White chinned Petrel (Procellaria aequinoctialis)

Flying White chinned Petrel

Flying White chinned Petrel (Procellaria aequinoctialis)

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