IMIS - Marine Research Groups

Wandering albatross fly enormous distances but only with the assistance of the wind. Typically they reach or run with the wind on the longest fastest flights. However, they can also fly at almost all angles to the wind. Presumably the bird must make a greater effort and or the flight ground speed is slower. In the 1990s, MD Murray and DG Nicholls explored many of these relationships. New satellite with sensors directly measuring wind speed and direction will allow increased precision in studies of the relationship between bird flight and the wind.