Day 235

Under the Wings of the Albatross Wind SSE 20 knots, Course E, Speed 4 knots, Position: 400 29 S, 170 20 E One of the nicest things about being down here in the Southern Ocean is seeing all the albatrosses. Often they fly so close that its easy to see how the Ancient Mariner was tempted to shoot one with his bow and arrow. They fly right up to the stern and hover for a moment. When they are that close, their real size can be seen and their wings are wider than my outstretched arms. In the daytime they are always around. We don’t know where they go at night. It seems like every time I look out, I see one. Then I follow him and seem to fly with him. They can fly for long periods without moving their wings. That is what really sets them apart and makes them more stately and elegant than other birds. There are plenty of other birds flying around, but the albatross steals the show. Often there are four or five different types of birds flying together and a few different kinds of albatrosses. I think the next biggest birds are the shearwaters which are brown with a body the size of a chicken and wings shaped like the albatross. They often fly dipping one wing down until it almost skims the moving sea surface. The albatross does the same thing, but more gracefully. I have never seen their wing tip touch the water, but it seems to flex as it crosses the rippled waves. There is a very fast grey bird that comes in swarms and makes a lot of sharp moves. Many times, these three types of birds will fly together and swoop and turn at the same moment. One of the most curious little birds is called a Mother Carrie chicken. It’s smaller than a robin, but bigger than a sparrow and it has a dominant white V on its black back. Their unique trait is that they seem to hop, hop, hop on the water. Then there is a little black martin-like bird with pointy wings and tail. It stays low in the waves and always by itself. The albatross and shearwaters will sit down on the water together. The albatrosses look almost like swans on the water. I have yet to take the time to watch them as much as I would like, but I know I have plenty more days coming up. Their presence is so strong that I’m beginning to see them flying in my mind’s eye when I have no other thoughts. Then I fly with them and I am back on the boat living under the wings of the albatross. Soanya’s View: The albatross is one of the most interesting birds of the sea. Here are some facts about them. They can live as long a human can and don’t start raising chicks until they are ten years old. They don’t raise many chicks, only one at a time every few years. This means their population grows very slowly and because they are dying faster than they are being born, the albatross is an endangered species. The main threat to the albatross is long line fishing. Fishing boats let out lines that can be several miles long with hooks attached to catch tuna and swordfish in great amounts. The problem is the albatross sees the fish on the line, dives to get it and gets hooked too. Then they are stuck in the water and die. It’s a shame that a creature that so many mariners look for and love to watch is slowly disappearing from this world. The albatross spends most of its life at sea. There they fly for hundreds of thousands of miles around the world often below latitude 40 S. You might say they are not very territorial or to look at it another way, they consider the whole southern part of the world their home. Imagine having such a vast space to be familiar with and never thinking twice about why or how. It’s just the way it has always been for them.