Stamping out threat to albatross

Keeping stamps from your post this Christmas could help save endangered albatrosses from extinction.

Fourteen of the 22 species of the large seabird are at risk of dying out, leading the RSPB to plead for help.

Albatrosses face multiple threats, including from marine plastics, as documented on recent episodes of Blue Planet II. However, the largest killer of the birds is long-line fishing and trawl fishing vessels, which are responsible for the deaths of an estimated 100,000 each year.

The RSPB wants supporters to collect stamps to raise funds for The Albatross Task Force. Working with stamp dealers and specialist auction houses, the RSPB plans to turn the stamps into cash to help fund the task force which shows fishing crews how to use techniques like weighted lines and bird scarers that reduce the likelihood of albatrosses being killed. Samantha Herbert