The Fiji Petrel, a critically-endangered bird of which there are estimated to be less than 50, has been photographed for the first time:

"Scientists photographed the chocolate-coloured sea bird soaring above the ocean about 25 miles south of Fiji's remote island of Gau in May, according to the UK conservation group BirdLife International. The researchers' findings were described in a paper published in this week's Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club...The finding is significant because there is so little information about the bird, said Nicholas Carlile, sea bird project officer with the New South Wales state Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water in Australia. Carlile has studied the Fiji petrel for years and began to hunt for the animal's breeding ground in 2003. Despite all his research, even he has never seen one of the elusive birds. 'There has been no positive sighting of the Fiji petrel at sea – it's very rare,' Carlile said. 'So it was absolutely fantastic to see those images.'"

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