A Laysan albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) IUCN Vulnerable, taking off from a breeding beach in the remote French Frigate Shoals. Before breeding at

---

A Laysan albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) IUCN Vulnerable, taking off from a breeding beach in the remote French Frigate Shoals. Before breeding at age five the birds may spend years out at sea. The Northwest Hawaiian Islands are home to almost the entire world population of this species. They are carefully protected, but the threat from plastic pollution (which the birds mistake for cephalopods and eat to feed their young) and long line fishing means that there is long term concern for this species.

---

Size: 5998px × 3007px
Photo credit: © PAUL D STEWART/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: -, albatross, art, beach, black, breeding, flight, flying, french, frigate, hawaii, immutabilis, island, laysan, ocean, phoebastria, photograph, plastic, pollution, shoals, white