LOS ANGELES (AP) — Scientists on a research vessel off the central California coast spotted a waved albatross, marking just the second recorded sighting of the bird north of Central America.
Scientists on a research vessel off the central California coast spotted a waved albatross, marking just the second recorded sighting of the bird north of Central America.
The yellow-billed bird with black button eyes, which can have an 8-foot (2.4-meter) wingspan and spends much of its life airborne over the ocean, also came with a mystery: Researchers wonder how and why a species known to breed in the Galapagos Islands — roughly 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers) away — ventured so far north.
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To scientists, it’s a “vagrant” bird, one traveling far outside its typical range. It was spotted 23 miles (37 kilometers) off the coast of Point Piedras Blancas, roughly midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles.
