Albatross: Elusive Mariners of the Southern Ocean by Aleks Teraus and Fiona Stewart HC Book 2005

The Majestic Albatross Captures the hearts of most people who have experienced their grace and beauty. These enormous birds travel the oceans of the world, their vast wingspans carrying them far from their breeding grounds.

Only five species breed in Australian waters: the Wandering Albatross, the Black-browed Albatross, the Grey-headed Albatross and the Light-mantled Sooty Albatross all breed on subantarctic Macquarie Island; the Shy Albatross breeds only around Tasmania. While the species may seem similar at first glance, they lead their lives in quite different ways. Some build sturdy nests with high walls of mud and vegetation. Others make a scant nest among rocks and boulders. Most form strong pair bonds for breeding and some will sit on an egg for over a month waiting for a partner to return.

Unfortunately, many species have been threatened with extinction by the activities of humans. They have been hunted for their feathers and have had their eggs stolen by nineteenth-century sealers for food. Today their lives are threatened by the fishing industry as they are often caught on the hooks of long-line trawlers and drowned.

Albatross: Elusive Mariners of the Southern Ocean tells the life histories of each of these species, as well as describing the islands on which they live and outlining the efforts being make to conserve them. It also looks at the history of human involvement in Bass Strait ands the Southern Ocean - whaling, sealing, long-line fishing for Tuna and Patagonian Toothfish, trawling, and impact of feral animalsw - and reveals what life is like for researchers on the islands today.

Illustrated with the author's beautiful and intimate photographs of the birds, together with historic illustrations from p ublications such as Gould's The Birds of Australia and those created specially for this book, Albatross is for all lovers of nature conservationists, students and researchers.