First breeding record of the light-mantled sooty albatross (Phoebetria palpebrata) for the maritime Antarctic

The light-mantled sooty albatross is a mediumsized albatross with a circumpolar distribution in the Southern Ocean. The known breeding sites are restricted to Islands in sub-Antarctic latitudes close to the Antarctic convergence between 46° and 53°S. In the austral summer season 2008/ 2009 we discovered a new breeding colony with at least two confirmed and three probable nests at Fildes Peninsula, King George Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica (62°12'S, 59°01'W). The new breeding colony of lightmantled sooty albatross described here represents the southernmost breeding place of any albatross species ever recorded. © Springer-Verlag 2009.