Nancy Caruso sat on an island in the North Pacific Ocean just inches from an albatross and watched as the large black-and-white sea bird with a 12-foot wingspan added grass to its nest to cover up a precious 4-inch white egg.
Each year, albatross pairs – mated for life unless a partner dies – typically have just one egg. The eggs incubate for 60 days and crack open in the fourth week of January. From then, the chicks spend six months on the islands of the Midway Atoll, growing and learning to fly.
The massive seabirds spend their lives on their wings, soaring up to 500 miles a day and cruising at 80 mph with barely a flap, so developing flight skills are critical to survival. They are known to travel incredible distances without rest and are rarely spotted.
So seeing the birds close up and “being part of their tribe” was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the Orange County marine biologist who usually spends her time researching marine life closer to home off the Southern California coast and educating local students. Caruso, of Cypress, was part of a team of 12 citizen scientists who recently spent six days a week for three weeks counting albatross nests on the Midway Atoll.
Just back from the monthlong trip, Caruso has been sharing what she learned with students at local middle schools. The lesson includes fascinating tidbits about the albatross, but also how plastic pollution and entanglements from fishing lines, hooks, and nets are a real threat to the birds. She also tries to inspire students to think about volunteering as citizen scientists – much of her research is done with the help of hundreds of volunteers.
“I was handing them pieces of grass,” Caruso said of her recent experience as one of a dozen volunteers helping United States Fish and Wildlife officials with their annual albatross nest count on the U.S. territory island. The atoll is home to at least 70% of the albatross population and is known for its use during World War II and…
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