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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2023.03.24.534087

Wandering albatross exert high take-off effort in weak wind with low wave conditions

Uesaka, L.·Goto, Y.·Naruoka, M.·Weimerskirch, H.·Sato, K.·Sakamoto, K. Q.
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Abstract

The relationship between the environment and marine animal small-scale behavior is not fully understood. This is largely due to the difficulty in obtaining environmental datasets with a high spatiotemporal precision. The problem is particularly pertinent in assessing the influence of environmental factors in rapid, high energy consuming behavior such as seabird take-off. To fill the gaps in the existing environmental datasets, we employed novel techniques using animal-borne sensors with motion records to estimate wind and ocean wave parameters and evaluated their influence on wandering albatross take-off patterns. Measurements revealed that wind speed and wave heights experienced by wandering albatrosses during take-off ranged from 0.7 [~] 15.4 m/s and 1.6 [~] 6.4 m, respectively. The four indices measured (flapping number, frequency, sea surface running speed, and duration) also varied with the environmental conditions (e.g., flapping number varied from 0 to over 20). Importantly, take-off was easier under higher wave conditions than under lower wave conditions at a constant wind speed, and take-off effort increased only when both wind and waves were gentle. Our data suggests that both ocean waves and winds play important roles for albatross take-off and advances our current understanding of albatross flight mechanisms. Impact statementWind and ocean wave conditions experienced by albatrosses were estimated using an animal-borne recorder and revealed that take-off was easier under higher wave conditions.

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Uesaka, L., Goto, Y., Naruoka, M., Weimerskirch, H., Sato, K., Sakamoto, K. Q.. 2023-03-25. Wandering albatross exert high take-off effort in weak wind with low wave conditions. https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.03.24.534087

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