Diomedea exulans has one of the biggest wingspans of all flying birds, up to 3.5 meters. The Southern Royal Albatross can apparently by even larger. I saw this Wandering Albatross when crossing the Drake passage on my return from a trip to Antarctica.
All species of albatross are in danger, mostly because of fishing methods and plastic.
Here’s a recent account by Ben Lecomte who is swimming across the Pacific:
That was amazing to be in the water with four wild birds of that size just a few feet away from me. I got a fist-beck bump with two of them. Brian jumped in the water with a GoPro and started filming the when one of them went for a red piece of plastic and tried to eat it. Brian reached out and retrieved a small red plastic basket. A couple of minutes later I spotted two of them going…
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