Black-Browed Albatross

The black-browed albatross belongs to the Diomedeidae, the albatross family, and within it holds a particular distinction: it is the most widespread and common species of albatross found anywhere. On an Antarctic expedition that counts for a lot, because it means this is the albatross you are statistically most likely to actually see, rather than merely hope for, over the course of a voyage.

Travellers tend to meet it early and often. It follows ships through the Falkland Islands, where colonies nest on the outer coasts, and stays with the wake as vessels push south across the Drake Passage. Further along the route it turns up again over the South Georgia shelf and across the open water of the Scotia Sea, and it is a regular sight for ships transiting the Beagle Channel as well, gliding on stiff, motionless wings just off the stern.

What stays with most people is how effortless the flight looks — long stretches with barely a wingbeat, riding the air off the ship's wake for minutes at a time. It is a bird you get used to having around, which, given how large a family Diomedeidae is, says something about just how common this particular albatross really is.