无尽汪洋 10

The greatest ocean wanderer,

with its two-metre wingspan,

is the albatross.

To find enough food for its oversized offspring,

this black-footed albatross may have travelled

a staggering 6,000 miles across the open ocean

looking for hot spots of squid and fish.

The albatross nest on the tiny Hawaiian islands of French Frigate Shoals.

This island may be only half a mile long,

but it provides a base for around 300,000 seabirds.

With food so hard to come by in the open ocean,

newly hatched sooty tern chicks are easy pickings for the larger frigate birds.

For hours on end, they survey the nesting grounds,

waiting for a chance to strike.

A mother tries desperately to protect her helpless chick.

But an unguarded chick is desperately vulnerable.

It's what the frigate has been waiting for.

No wonder the crew of the ***** called them the "man-of-war" birds.

For two weeks,

the frigate birds keep up their relentless aerial assault

until finally the sooty tern chicks are old enough to get away.