ANTARCTICA: THE LOST CONTINENT

FACTS ABOUT ALBATROSSES

Albatrosses are the world’s most threatened family of birds. Of the 22 species, 17 are threatened with extinction and the remaining five are considered to be “nearthreatened.” Populations of wandering, black-browed and greyheaded albatrosses have declined by 50 per cent over the last 35 years, according to a study released late last year by British Antarctic Survey researchers who have been monitoring albatross populations since 1972 in South Georgia. The BAS scientists attribute the declines to environmental change and deaths in long-line and trawl fisheries because the birds dive up to five metres to scoop up krill and other fish. Albatrosses have an average lifespan of 56 years and can travel up to 1,000 kilometres a day. Wandering albatrosses have the longest wingspan of any bird — up to 3.35 metres (11 feet) — and can weigh up to 12 kilograms. Four species breed at South Georgia.

They are prominent in maritime lore and superstition, most memorably in Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.