Volvo Ocean Race

Save the Albatross campaign

Since 2005-06 the Volvo Ocean Race has worked closely with the Save the Albatross Campaign to help raise awareness of the plight of the albatross.

The Save the Albatross campaign is a joint creation of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and Birdlife International. This global campaign educates fishermen on how to protect the endangered birds through the Albatross Task Force.

Currently 17 of the 22 species of albatross are threatened with extinction. Sadly, the rate of deaths is outstripping the rate of births, putting them in real danger of extinction.

The biggest killer of the majestic seabirds is longline fishing, with an estimated 300,000 seabirds killed by the lines each year. The enormous lines stretch up to 100km and carry more than 10,000 baited hooks that entice the albatross, before fatally hooking and drowning them.

Fishermen are often unaware that through simple and cost-effective techniques they can reduce albatross deaths. This is why the Albatross Task Force is working onshore and offshore running workshops with fishermen and fisheries management bodies, and carrying out research to identify solutions that best suit each fishery.

The Albatross Task Force is driven by a passionate belief that we all have a responsibility to protect birds and the environment.
A percentage of proceeds from the sale of Wisdom merchandise and the official Volvo Ocean Race game will be donated to the Save the Albatross campaign.

A seafaring inspiration
Albatross have the largest wingspan of any bird, with the wings of the Wandering Albatross spanning a massive 3.5m (11.5ft).

Their massive wingspan allows them to fly with barely a flap of their wings, gliding as much as 110m for every five meters of height they drop.

When the wind speed is less than 18 kph albatross are forced to remain on the water or land as their wings create too much resistance to allow them to take off.

Albatross can cover up to 10,000 km in a single flight. The Grey-headed Albatross have been recorded circumnavigating the globe twice yearly, the fastest occurring in 46 days.

For more information visit: Bird Life International and Save the Albatross.