2023-10-20 19:43:01
TR717G wandering albatros (Diomedea exulans), flying over the sea, Suedgeorgien Blickwinkel/Alamy via Reuters
A study finds that the largest seabirds seem to preferentially head towards areas where waves produce infrasound.
The navigational abilities of albatrosses, capable of finding a tiny island lost in the middle of the immensity of the ocean after months or even years in flight, are one of the great mysteries of nature. Without completely answering this question, an international study provides new elements, indicating that these large birds use infrasound produced by waves to orient themselves towards the windiest areas of the ocean. « For albatross, which flap their wings very little, it is essential to always have wind to be able to move, explains Henri Weimerskirch, director of research emeritus CNRS in Chizé and co-author of the study published in the PNAS (Proceedings of the American Academy of Sciences). This constraint is very strong, because a large albatross cannot move in an anticyclone, in the absence of wind. These birds take advantage of the lifts caused by the passage of the wind on the swell. »
« The idea for the study came from a…
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