I recently finished reading “Eye of the Albatross” by Carl Safina, who is one of my favorite authors. In Safina’s usual, unparalleled eloquence, this book tracks the path of a Laysan Albatross (named “Amelia”) as she flies around the Pacific Ocean in search of food for her new chick, which sits patiently in its nest on a remote beach in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands (on Laysan Island). Through interviews with researchers on the island as well as fishermen in Alaska (a popular destination for the albatrosses), the author explains the incredible life of these seabirds as well as the threats facing them.

A few things really stand out in my mind after reading this book. First, the albatross’ heart rate is actually lower while it is flying than when it is on land. The birds spend almost their entire life in the air and at sea, returning to land only to take care of their chicks (they have one at a time). Amelia, the bird highlighted in the book that was tracked via satellite tags, regularly flew thousands of miles over the couse of several days for the sole purpose of finding food for her growing baby. Upon returning to the chick and regurgitating the food she caught, Amelia would spend no more than a few minutes on land before heading back north into open ocean for another thousand mile journey. This would repeat until the chick was old enough to survive on its own.

Next, I had no idea just how horrible treatment of the albatross and other seabirds has been over the past few centuries. Some islands in the Pacific had their entire populations of birds destroyed by greedy poachers and businesses seeking an easy dollar without any thought of sustainability. Millions of birds were slaughtered, often for only certain body parts (feathers, wings, etc.), leaving the bird to die when the desired part was chopped off. Pristine islands were decimated when alien species of plants and animals (such as rats or ants) were introduced, killing off the islands’ orignal inhabitants.

As in “Voyage of the Turtle” (Safina’s most recent book), this book explores other animals or issues that are connected to the albatross either through similar threats or geography. Safina has several chapters that barely mention birds, but instead discuss sea turtles, sharks, the mission of a Japanese man whose life mission was to save a bird colony, long-lining off Hawaii, crab fishing in Alaska (think “Deadliest Catch”), etc. All these stories perfectly intertwine with the albatross story, giving the reader a somewhat wholisitc view of the problems facing the oceans and the actions we need to take immediately to stop these horrible trends.

As you might guess, I highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in the topics I’ve mentioned in this review. Safina is truly one of the most gifted, passionate writers you’ll ever read… the guy could write a hundred pages about paint drying and when you finished reading them you’d want to paint a wall yourself just to experience what he was talking about. I really hope you enjoy “Eye of the Albatross”, I certainly did!

Laysan Albatross at Kaena Point, Oahu, Hawaii