How an albatross flies marathon distances
Boston: MIT scientists have unveiled the key behind the marathon flight of the wandering albatross, which can fly nearly 500 miles (804 km) in a single day, with just an occasional flap of its wings.
The albatross is one of the most efficient travellers in the animal world.
The birds use their formidable wingspans, measuring up to 11 feet across, to catch and ride the wind.
Observers have noted for centuries that these feathered giants keep themselves aloft for hours, just above the ocean surface, by soaring and diving between contrasting currents of air, as if riding a sidewinding rollercoaster — a flight pattern known as dynamic soaring.
Now, engineers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US have developed a model to simulate dynamic soaring, and have used it to identify the optimal flight pattern that an albatross should take in order to harvest the most wind and energy.
They found that as an albatross banks or turns to dive down and soar up, it should do so in shallow arcs, keeping almost to a straight, forward trajectory.
The new model will be useful in gauging how albatross flight patterns may change as wind patterns shift with changing climate, researchers said.
It also may inform the design of wind-propelled drones and gliders which could be used to perform long-duration, long-range monitoring missions in remote regions of the world, researchers said.
“The wandering albatross lives in the Southern Ocean, which is not very well-known. It is very hard to get there, and there is a lot of wind and waves,” said Gabriel Bousquet, a graduate student at MIT.