Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Albatross


.


Waved Albatross (Diomedea irrorata), in flight, Española, Galapagos Islands: photo by putneymark, 17 August 2007




Magnificent in dreamed
air, ungainly on hard ground

stranded, the great sea bird that
once rolled with the clouds
and thought the eye of
the storm a place for rejoicing
now falls from the sky
wobbling on wet wings
with a belly full of plastic






Tristan Albatross (Diomedea dabbena), Tristan da Cunha
: photo by michael clarke stuff, 23 February 2009


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Kerguelen_-_Diomedea_exulans_-_wooing.jpg

Wandering Albatross (Diomedea exulans), west coast of Rallier du Baty peninsula, Kerguelen Islands: photo by Dimitry Damasceno, 20 September 2004

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Black_footed_albatross.jpg

Black-footed Albatross (Phoebastria nigripes), Hawaii, Leeward Islands, Pacific Ocean
: photo by Dr. James P. McVey, NOAA Sea Grant, June 1969 (NOAA Photo Library)


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Laysan_pair_and_chick.jpg

Mated Laysan Albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) pair: photo by James Lloyd, 2007

File:Laysan albatross chick remains.jpg

Remains of Laysan Albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) chick at Midway Atoll with clear examples of ingested plastic flotsam. They are the probable cause of death due to their situation within the remains. The Cousteau team has shown that ingested plastic is a frequent cause of death for these birds. This may be due to the fact that floating debris often becomes covered with a layer of plant-life, marine crustaceans and their eggs, which is appealing to albatross: photo by Forest and Kim Starr, 2008 (USGS)