Looks at what is known about the albatross, a bird of legend and poetry, and examines the conditions that are threatening over three-quarters of all albatross species with extinction.

Famous for their size and elegance in flight, albatrosses are familiar to anyone who has travelled through the southern oceans, and are a flagship family of conservation concern. However, albatrosses are just one of several groups of 'pelagic' birds - those that visit land only to breed, and spend the rest of their lives far from the coast, soaring from ocean to ocean in a never-ending search for food. Mysterious and graceful, these birds can present a formidable identification challenge to even the most experienced birder. This fixed-format ebook provides the answer - the first comprehensive guide to pelagic birds, the albatrosses, petrels, shearwaters, storm-petrels and diving petrels. Optimised for iPad, it features the book in crisp, clear high-resolution. A total of 46 detailed, fully zoomable colour plates highlight key ID criteria of the birds in flight, with close-ups of diagnostic regions of the plumage. The plates are accompanied by accurate distribution maps, while the sparkling text brings the world of these amazing birds to life. Sea-watchers all around the world will find this superb field guide indispensable – and no birder will want to be without it.

“At length did cross an Albatross, / Through the fog it came; / As if it had been a Christian soul, / We hailed it in God’s name.” The introduction of the albatross in Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” remains one of the most well-known references to this majestic seabird in Western culture. In Albatross, Graham Barwell goes beyond Coleridge to examine the role the bird plays in the lives of a wide variety of peoples and societies, from the early views of north Atlantic mariners to modern encounters by writers, artists, and filmmakers. Exploring how the bird has been celebrated in proverbs, folk stories, art, and ceremonies, Barwell shows how people marvel at the way the albatross soars through the air, covering awe-inspiring distances with little effort thanks to its impressive wingspan. He surveys the many approaches people have taken to thinking about the albatross over the past two hundred years—from those who devoted their lives to these birds to those who hunted them for food and sport—and discusses its place in the human imagination. Concluding with a reflection on the bird’s changing significance in the modern world, Barwell considers threats to its continued existence and its prospects for the future. With one hundred illustrations from nature, film, and popular culture, Albatross is an absorbing look at these beautiful birds.

"Albatrosses are largely confined to the region referred to by early mariners as the Roaring Forties and the Furious Fifties, otherwise known as the Southern Ocean. The single most distinctive characteristic of the albatrosses is that they ride storms. Aside from a few close relatives among the petrels and shearwaters, they are the only animals (of any kind) that do this. They dont evade storms, or flee them, or grit their figurative teeth and hang on through them, they climb aboard and ride them effectively throughout their lives. This work outlines the life histories of these spectacular birds, and explores some of the main strategies and tactics that have evolved to enable them to achieve mastery of one of the most hostile regions on the planet. It describes the 24 species of albatrosses found worldwide, including the most important species from an Australian perspective (Wandering Albatross, Shy Albatross, Black-browed Albatross, Sooty Albatross)"-- Provided by publisher.

"In this elegant narrative, celebrated naturalist Ted Floyd guides you through a year of becoming a better birder. Choosing 200 top avian species to teach key lessons, Floyd introduces a new, holistic approach to bird watching and shows how to use the tools of the 21st century to appreciate the natural world we inhabit together whether city, country or suburbs." -- From book jacket.

"Following the international success of their 1974 identification guide to the albatrosses and petrels of New Zealand, two leading authorities on marine birds, Peter C. Harper and F. C. Kinsky, have revised and expanded their previous text to present a new edition which describes all species of albatrosses and petrels likely to be seen in the southern oceans, from the Tropic of Capricorn south to the shores of Antarctica. Popular features of the previous guide have been combined with improvements to create a definitive easy to use booklet for scientists and laymen alike."--

Annotation This book provides a synthesis of seabed geomorphology and benthic habitats based on the most recent, up-to-date information. Case studies from around the world are presented.

“This bracing history charts the myths, the exploration, and the inhabitants of the all-too-real and wild circumpolar ocean to our south.” —The Sydney Morning Herald, Pick of the Week Unlike the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, and Arctic Oceans with their long maritime histories, little is known about the Southern Ocean. This book takes readers beyond the familiar heroic narratives of polar exploration to explore the nature of this stormy circumpolar ocean and its place in Western and Indigenous histories. Drawing from a vast archive of charts and maps, sea captains’ journals, whalers’ log books, missionaries’ correspondence, voyagers’ letters, scientific reports, stories, myths, and her own experiences, Joy McCann embarks on a voyage of discovery across its surfaces and into its depths, revealing its distinctive physical and biological processes as well as the people, species, events, and ideas that have shaped our perceptions of it. The result is both a global story of changing scientific knowledge about oceans and their vulnerability to human actions and a local one, showing how the Southern Ocean has defined and sustained southern environments and people over time. Beautifully and powerfully written, Wild Sea will raise a broader awareness and appreciation of the natural and cultural history of this little-known ocean and its emerging importance as a barometer of planetary climate change. “A sensitive portrait of a complex ecosystem, from krill to blue whales, and of the ice, winds, and currents that are critical to the circulation of the world’s oceans.” —Harper’s “Wilderness seekers will rejoice in this stirring portrait . . . McCann deftly navigates both natural glories and archival complexities.” —Nature