Albatross Found In LA Freed To Fly Home To Hawaii

LOS ANGELES -- A large seabird found in the back of a pickup truck in Los Angeles has been released to begin its long flight home across the Pacific.

Rescuers suspect the bird stowed away on a cargo ship to hitch a trans-Pacific ride to Los Angeles, where it was spotted hitching a ride in a truck on Friday.

The wildlife rescue center in San Pedro has taken in a handful of the massive birds, which look like overgrown seagulls, over the past decade.

With its 7-foot wingspan, an albatross can soar long distances and spend years roaming the ocean without touching land.

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Comments

[Imago1122]

06:09 PM on 02/01/2012

Interesting. But I would've liked to know what kind of albatross it was---one of the North Pacific species or, even more intriguing, was it from the south pacific races? The picture above clearly indicates a juvenile wanderer; however I'm not sure this was the albatross in question.

[Imago1122]

06:31 PM on 02/01/2012

Okay, I've found out what kind of albatross it was: a Laysan, a north pacific species that nests in the Hawaiian Islands of Midway and Laysan and other remote islands including the French Frigate Shoals and the Bonin Islands close to Japan.

I'm thinking it wouldn't be that unusual that this bird might occasionally bypass the California coast since they range widely in sabbatical years---from Japan to the Bering Sea---and are of recent apparently colonizing breeding islands off of Mexico, something I didn't know before.

[hazbro24]

12:16 PM on 02/01/2012

"..can spend years.."

So it can pretty much go where it wants to. Like L.A.