Page 49 - 2008 NZ Subantarctic Islands

unusual for an albatross to fly 600 miles in a single day. Most

amazingly, these birds make this prodigious trip using fewer wing
flaps than a sparrow uses when flying across a street! And don’t

forget, when fledged a young bird does not return to land for 6-7
years; they are on the wing that entire time except when they

settle for a rest on the sea surface. They sleep while they fly: one
half of the brain sleeps while the other stays awake. Albatross
return to their birthplace to conduct their own contributions to

the survival of their species.

They meet one another while around 5 or 6 and begin to perform
the “gamming” or mating rituals that will finally help them choose

a mate which will be their partner for life. But actually breeding
usually doesn’t start until they are closer to 10 years old. Another

problem with maintaining a stable population.

So what is DOC doing to help these magnificent birds? The care

that is taken in keeping Campbell Island predator free has already
been discussed, as has the policy of allowing very few visitations

to the island. There are 24 species of albatross (there is some
discussion among taxonomists about the exact number, but this is

close enough for our purposes) and 14 of them breed in New
Zealand. Astoundingly, 40% of all Albatross live in the areas we

visited on this trip. New Zealand, through the work of DOC, is
working to prevent long line and drift net fishing in its territorial
waters. New Zealand was a signatory to a treaty to end drift-

netting as long ago as 1989. A levy is collected from all legal
fishing operations in NZ territorial waters to help fund research to

protect seabirds of all kinds. Part of DOC research involves
satellite transmitters attached to birds to determine where they

go and what happens to them. Bird banding is also practiced for
the same purpose. Another very important part of the DOC

mission is to teach the public about these birds and the projects
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