Albatrosses listen to the ocean to find their way
Albatrosses follow infrasound signals from the ocean to find feeding grounds and optimal flight conditions.
A wingspan of up to 3.5 m. Hours of soaring flight without flapping its massive wings. Travelling over 10,000 km in a single trip. The wandering albatross is a bird of the extremes. In 2023, scientists discovered that this bird uses infrasonic cues of the sea to navigate to feeding grounds.
Albatrosses spend most of their life in the air, travelling thousands of kilometers over the Southern Ocean searching for prey. But in a desert of water, that looks the same in any direction, how do albatrosses decide where to go? Scientists discovered that they follow the ‘voice of the sea’1.
When stormy weather produces large waves on the surface of the ocean, these waves set the air in motion and generate low-frequency sound waves between 0.1 and 0.6 Hz. These sound waves, also known as microbaroms or the ‘voice of the sea’, are inaudible to humans, but can travel thousands of kilometers through the atmosphere. And they seem to guide albatrosses across the vast ocean.
The researchers tracked the GPS coordinates of 89 wandering albatrosses (Diomedea exulans) in the Southern Ocean. When analyzing the birds’ travel directions in relation to the microbarom signals within a 2,000 km radius, they found that the albatrosses typically headed towards sources of strong microbarom intensity—in other words, they flew toward where the ocean was ‘loudest’.
What makes regions with strong infrasonic signals so attractive to albatrosses? The ‘voice of the sea’ is louder in stormy and wavy areas. These conditions are ideal for the iconic soaring flight of albatrosses because they allow them to fly for hours without flapping their gigantic wings—which saves tremendous amounts of energy. At the same time, these stormy areas may also offer a higher abundance or accessibility of prey, making them the optimal feeding grounds.
Scientists still don’t know how exactly albatrosses perceive infrasound. However, we know that homing pigeons can hear sound in the same low-frequency spectrum. Given their larger body size and larger ear structures, it is likely that albatrosses are equally—if not better—adapted to hearing these oceanic signals. Let’s see whether future research will discover more!
Have a wonderful rest of the week! All the best,
PS: Thursday, June 19th is World Albatross Day! This day has been inaugurated by ACAP (The Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels) in 2020 to increase awareness of thousands of albatrosses dying every year because of commercial fishing. Of the 22 albatross species recognized by the IUCN, 15 species are threatened with extinction.
Very fascinating how the albatross can hear the song of the sea. I like that they fly towards rough sea conditions as that is where they are in their true element.
Very cool! I love to watch the royal albatross family via the live camera at Taiaroa Head in New Zealand.