A Day with the Albatross
Short-tailed Albatross Phoebastria albatrus, Northern Fulmar Fulmarus glacialis and a few Short-tailed Shearwaters Puffinus tenuirostris, Bering Sea, on the shelf-break about 140 miles west of St. Matthew Island, 3 August 2009.
Two immature Short-tailed Albatross spent much of the day around the ship today as the ship conducted pollock surveys. One of the birds is starting to show some white feathers coming in on the throat and around the eyes and its plumage is a bit lighter brown than the other albatross which showed uniformly dark brown plumage with no white feathering. At times both albatross sat on the water and did a courtship-like display, gently wagging their bills bag and forth, sometimes touching each other. We were surprised to see to young immatures engaged in this behavior, but I guess it has to start sometime. Last night while in Russian waters a dark juvenile and an adult Short-tailed Albatross made brief fly-bys of the ship.
