"There is almost no bird species in Antarctica that is not a protected species." Xiang Yang said unhappily.
According to the Antarctic Conservation Treaty, it is absolutely forbidden for humans to capture all birds in Antarctica, including bird eggs.
Fang Youqun's face fell when he heard this. "It was so hard to come across an albatross in the water, but I didn't expect it to be a protected animal."
"What? Do you think you can catch it while it's in the water? By the time you swim over, it will have taken off." A crew member who usually has a good relationship with Fang Youqun said with a smile.
Xiang Yang suddenly said, "You know what, if this wandering albatross wasn't a protected species, we might be able to catch it."
"That's right. Although albatrosses are masters of gliding and can stay in the air for hours without flapping their wings, they need a headwind to take off. Without a headwind, they can only take off from the edge of the cliff by running. When there is no wind on the sea and no cliffs, the wandering albatross has no way to get its bulky body into the air and can only float on the sea like an ordinary duck." Chen Qingsheng nodded in agreement.
“Not really.”
Xiang Yang smiled and said, "Even on the sea, the Wandering Albatross is still more flexible than an ordinary duck."
"As far as I know, wandering albatrosses mainly hunt for food on the sea surface, and sometimes they dive to the bottom of the water," said Xiang Yang.
The wandering albatross is different from ordinary albatrosses. In addition to being a world-renowned glider, it is also an excellent diver.
The wandering albatross is extremely good at diving. It can easily dive to a depth of more than ten meters on the seabed and prey on some fish and shrimp on the seabed.
However, wandering albatrosses usually forage at night because at night, many marine organisms will float to the water surface.
"It can fly and even dive?" Fang Youqun asked in surprise.
Xiang Yang smiled and nodded.
Fang Youqun looked around and suddenly asked in confusion: "Hey, that's not right, Brother Yang, there are no islands around us. What if this wandering albatross wants to drink water? Can it drink seawater?"
"Why not?" Xiang Yang asked back.
"Ah? Isn't it common sense that sea water can't be drunk?" Fang Youqun asked curiously.
Xiang Yang smiled and said, "What you are talking about is a human attempt, which does not apply to animals and plants."
"So, this wandering albatross can drink sea water to quench its thirst?" Fang Youqun asked in amazement.
"Yes, like most birds, wandering albatrosses can drink sea water and use it to quench their thirst." Xiang Yang nodded.
"The wandering albatross has a very unique stomach. Not only can it drink seawater to quench its thirst, but it can also change the type of food it eats according to changes in the weather."
"It can fly, dive, and drink sea water to quench its thirst. Doesn't that mean this bird is invincible? Why is it still a protected animal?" Fang Youqun said with eyes wide open.
Xiang Yang sighed, "God is fair. Although albatrosses have strong survival abilities, their reproductive abilities are extremely low. They need to be at least ten years old to have reproductive abilities, and they only lay one egg at a time."
When albatrosses breed, they flock to islands far away from the mainland.
When the breeding season begins, male wandering albatrosses will fly to the breeding grounds first and wait for female birds to come.
When the breeding grounds are filled with albatrosses, the wandering albatrosses will perform wing-spreading and beak-pecking performances. The male wandering albatross will keep singing "coo-coo-coo" songs, and at the same time, he will bend down and bow to the female wandering albatross he likes in a very gentlemanly manner.
When incubating bird eggs, male and female wandering albatrosses will divide the work and cooperate with each other.
The female bird is generally responsible for incubating the eggs, while the male bird is responsible for guarding them, and sometimes they take turns in their division of labor.
When not breeding, wandering albatrosses fly aimlessly over the ocean.
For newly hatched chicks, the adult birds mainly feed them at the beginning, which is similar to sparrows and swallows, and many people have seen it.
When the young albatrosses grow feathers, the main task of the adults becomes caretaking.
About twenty days after a baby albatross is born, the care period ends and the baby albatross basically needs to survive independently. During this period, many baby albatrosses are often eliminated.
However, some biologists have found that some adult birds will still fly back to their breeding grounds regularly every week after the care period ends, and sometimes they will bring some food to the young albatrosses in the breeding grounds.
Biologists have found that young albatrosses that are still cared for by adult birds after the end of the nursing period have a higher culling rate than those who are not cared for by adult birds.
It is also worth mentioning that wandering albatrosses are very loyal to love. Once a pair relationship is established, they usually live together until the other party dies.
"The albatross' habitat is the ocean. They behave very docilely on the shore, so many albatrosses are also commonly known as stupid gulls or stupid birds," Xiang Yang said with a smile.
Albatrosses are mainly distributed in the Southern Hemisphere, with a few living in the North Pacific and equatorial regions.
The distribution of albatrosses is very obvious, which is related to the wind-affected ocean belt between Antarctica and the southern tip of South America, Africa and Australia.
The largest number of individuals and species are concentrated between 45° and 70° south latitude, but they also breed in temperate waters of the Southern Hemisphere, and a few species have distribution areas into the North Pacific.
The Galapagos albatrosses of the Galapagos Islands and La Plata Island off the coast of Ecuador breed at the equator, where the climate is influenced by the cold Humboldt Current.
Once upon a time, there was a species of Laysan albatross breeding in North America, but later it was wiped out by American soldiers because it affected the takeoff of US military aircraft.
Currently, the most precious of all albatrosses is the black-footed albatross.
The black-footed albatross is similar in shape to the short-tailed albatross. It can grow up to 80 cm in length and weigh more than 1 kg. Its head feathers have hanging white wing feathers, the area under the eyes and throat is grayish white, and the rest of the body is mostly dark brown. The waist and upper tail feathers are white with black spots, and the lower tail feathers also have black spots. The abdomen is pure white.
The black-footed albatross differs from the short-tailed albatross in that its beak and feet are dark in color. The population of this albatross is very rare.
Moreover, the black-footed albatross likes to follow ships to find food waste, and often accidentally eats industrial waste and then dies. It has been included in the "National List of Terrestrial Wildlife with Beneficial or Important Economic and Scientific Research Value" issued by my country's State Forestry Administration on August 1, 2000. It is a very precious bird.
The wandering albatross is the second most precious of all albatross species, after the black-footed albatross.