Quote:
Mmm. I love onomatopoetics. Now could you also make the sound of albatros
flying?
- Sancran
"Flap flap oh noes, I have been shot by a crossbow by an ancient mariner!"
Shinarae Lluminus
Albatrosses travel huge distances with two techniques used by many long-winged
seabirds, dynamic soaring and slope soaring. Dynamic soaring enables them to
minimise the effort needed by gliding across wave fronts gaining energy from
the vertical wind gradient. Slope soaring is more straightforward: the
albatross turns to the wind, gaining height, from where it can then glide back
down to the sea. Albatross have high glide ratios, around 22:1 to 23:1, meaning
that for every metre they drop, they can travel forward 22 metres (72 ft).
I think there isn't necessarily much flapping happening...