The Southern Oceans Seabird Study Association (SOSSA) is an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n natural history

Natural history

Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...

 research and conservation organisation. It is based in Wollongong, New South Wales

Wollongong, New South Wales

Wollongong is a seaside city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It lies on the narrow coastal strip between the Illawarra Escarpment and the Pacific Ocean, 82 kilometres south of Sydney...

. It was formally established in 1994 by members of the NSW Albatross Study Group Lindsay Smith

Lindsay Smith

Lindsay E. Smith OAM is an Australian naturalist, ornithologist and conservationist notable for his work towards the study and conservation of seabirds, especially albatrosses, along the Illawarra coast of New South Wales....

 and Harry Battam to be an umbrella organisation for groups involved with biological research on, and concerned about the environment of, the Southern Ocean

Southern Ocean

The Southern Ocean comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60°S latitude and encircling Antarctica. It is usually regarded as the fourth-largest of the five principal oceanic divisions...

. However, its origins go back to the start of long-term banding

Bird ringing

Bird ringing or bird banding is a technique used in the study of wild birds, by attaching a small, individually numbered, metal or plastic tag to their legs or wings, so that various aspects of the bird's life can be studied by the ability to re-find the same individual later...

 studies of albatross

Albatross

Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds allied to the procellariids, storm-petrels and diving-petrels in the order Procellariiformes . They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Pacific...

es on the coast of New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

 in the mid 1950s, with SOSSA continuing one of the longest-running albatross research programs in the world.

SOSSA is also involved in research and conservation of Little Penguin

Little Penguin

The Little Penguin is the smallest species of penguin. The penguin, which usually grows to an average of in height and in length , is found on the coastlines of southern Australia and New Zealand, with possible records from Chile.Apart from Little Penguins, they have several common names...

s in New South Wales , making its data sheets available to the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service

National Parks and Wildlife Service (New South Wales)

The National Parks and Wildlife Service is part of the Office of Environment and Heritage - the main government conservation agency in New South Wales, Australia....

 and being represented on their Little Penguin Recovery Team.

SOSSA operates monthly public pelagic trips from Wollongong to see seabird

Seabird

Seabirds are birds that have adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations...

s and marine mammal

Mammal

Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...

s. Projects supported by SOSSA include studies of Diomedea and Thalassarche albatrosses, Sooty Oystercatcher

Sooty Oystercatcher

The Sooty Oystercatcher, Haematopus fuliginosus, is a species of oystercatcher. It is a wading bird native to Australia and commonly found on its coastline. It prefers rocky coastlines, but will occasionally live in estuaries....

s, cuttlefish

Cuttlefish

Cuttlefish are marine animals of the order Sepiida. They belong to the class Cephalopoda . Despite their name, cuttlefish are not fish but molluscs....

, and the Five Islands Nature Reserve

Five Islands Nature Reserve

Five Islands Nature Reserve is a 26 ha reserve comprising five islands close to Port Kembla, New South Wales, Australia. The islands - Flinders Islet , Bass Islet, Martin Islet, Big Island and Rocky Islet - lie between 0.5 and 3.5 km off the coast...

 off Port Kembla

Port Kembla, New South Wales

Port Kembla is a suburb of Wollongong 8 km south of the CBD and part of the Illawarra region of New South Wales. The suburb comprises a seaport, industrial complex , a small harbour foreshore nature reserve, and a small commercial sector. It is situated on the tip of Red Point, first sighted...

.