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Mates for Life
Photograph by Frans Lanting
A pair of royal albatrosses occupy a ground-level nest at the tip of the Otago Peninsula on New Zealand’s South Island. The largest of all albatrosses, the royal has a wingspan of 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) and can fly almost 75 miles (120 kilometers) per hour. After the chicks have fledged, the monogamous mates circumnavigate the globe for two years, returning to the same nest within days of each other. Females lay one egg, and both parents care for the young for 12 months. Living 45 years, royal albatrosses number among more than a hundred endemic bird species in New Zealand. |
Camera: Nikon
Film Type: Fujichrome
Lens: 300mm
Speed and F-Stop: Unrecorded |
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Weather Conditions: Unrecorded
Time of Day: Midday
Lighting Techniques: Natural light |
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