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The Black Browed albatross. What a stunningly beautiful bird. With their snow-white feathers and dark eyes surrounded by what almost looks like eye shadow. And these are not small birds, with a wingspan of 251cm they are among the largest seabirds in the world. Of the albatrosses, they are also the most common, often hovering behind ships in the middle of the South Atlantic. These birds have an impressive gliding pattern and even have the ability to 'fix' their wings so that it takes them no power at all to hover on the wind. This allows them to cover thousands and thousands of kilometres without using much energy. Albatrosses are seabirds, but to reproduce they still need to come ashore. I photographed this love-couple on the Falkland Islands near West Point. Here you can get incredibly close and, despite the tall grass, you can then see just how big they are and also how loving. These birds mate for life and can live up to 70 years. The ritual we see in the picture here is called "clacking", which is basically acknowledging and reaffirming love.
Albatrosses are great gliders, but landing is a lot harder for them. It is regularly quite clumsy and sometimes quite hilarious.
Lived in Amsterdam, but decided in 2018 to pursue his dreams. Currently lives and works in Tonga where he works for a whale snorkeling operator. Favorite are mainly wildlife photography with a great passion for whales and tigers, as well as photographing people and "life". Can wait.. Read more…