The Famous Wing-Lock

1 June 2015

The Famous Wing-Lock

Albatrosses are aided in soaring by a wing-lock mechanism, a sheet of tendons that lock the wing when fully extended, allowing the wings to be kept outstretched without any energy expenditure. Neat, huh?

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Albatrosses is a twice-monthly comic strip about a somewhat unusual colony of Albatrosses lost somewhere in the south Pacific. For over six years I have been drawing the Albatrosses cartoon to reveal the plight of the albatross to everyone, using wit and humor, promoting a better understanding of the need to save the albatross.

To read from bottom up

About the Albatross

They soar thousands of miles across oceans without pause. Their only need to touch land is to nest and raise young.

The name albatross is derived from a Portuguese word for seabird – alcatraz. The name was spelt in several different ways until 'albatross' became the accepted English version.

Dying at a rate of around one every five minutes, the albatross family is becoming threatened faster than any other family of birds. Eighteen of the 22 species of albatross are globally threatened with extinction, an increase from just seven in 1994.

Albatrosses are being killed in such vast numbers that they can't breed fast enough to keep up, putting them in real danger of extinction.

Without help, losses could become so great that recovery may never be possible for these majestic ocean wanderers.

(Text from the Save the Albatross Site)

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1 June 2015