Albatrosses

Although much admired, these great fliers can bring bad luck
The albatross, the largest of all sea birds, is a wonderful flier. In the “Roaring Forties” south of the equator, the Great Wandering Albatross (Diomedea exulans) will follow a vessel for weeks on end, and is even reputed to be able to sleep on the wing. Scientists have recorded specimens with a wingspan of 20 feet (6 m). In the North Pacific, the Blackfooted Albatross (Diomedea nigripes) and the Short-Tailed Albatross (Diomedea albatrus) are common, and all are members of the web-footed petrel family (genus Diomedea).Understandably, these solitary birds, which are so at home on the vast oceans, have always inspired awe in sailors. For many centuries, European mariners believed that an albatross housed the soul of a dead sailor. Therefore, it was considered bad luck to kill one, as Samuel Taylor Coleridge pointed out in his famous poem, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” So beware if you ever find yourself in the Roaring Forties towing a lure for fish. If an albatross takes it, you’re in big trouble—one way or another.Oddly enough, the word albatross stems from the Portuguese and Spanish alcatraz (a word familiar to Americans), which has actually come to mean pelican. An albatross looks nothing like a pelican, of course; it seems that in the golden days of exploration, Spanish and Portuguese sailors gave the name alcatraz to most new sea birds they came across, just as many English-speaking sailors with scant interest in ornithology referred to all sea birds as seagulls.