More on Albatross

(by Guest Blogger Cassandra)

I think Dan takes the Rime of the Ancient Mariner too lightly. The Albatross is easily the only visible sealife outside the ship. I like seeing them glide along on the currents hunting for their next meal. Perhaps they’re tired of being alone on the vast Southern Ocean and they tag along with our ship for the company. I have been disappointed in the small size of the albatross that we have seen so far, I expected to see a much larger creature that could stay aloft for hours without even flapping their wings. Perhaps we’ll see the giant albatross as we come across ice bergs in the next few days. A little information on our friends thanks to Wiki: there are 21 recognized species of albatross, which are related to the petrals we see out there as well. They can be found from the Southern Ocean to the North Pacific and tend to form colonies on remote islands. They are monogamous birds- a pair bond takes several years to form. Rather than being regarded as unlucky, sailors often used to kill them and eat them, although I’m sure they taste like chicken the thought of eating one seems rather barbaric, considering that these same sailors also thought that albatross were the souls of lost sailors.