Figure 13.

This Wandering Albatross fledgling, on its nest on South Georgia Island, is almost ready to start an uninterrupted 5- to 7-year-long flight over the southern ocean surrounding the bottom of the world, returning to land after all those years to mate monogamously for life. Even at only 9 months of life, it has a wingspan of 11 feet, the longest of any bird; we were 20 feet away and it seemed like a giant.