Shy Albatross - Southern Ocean

[Roaring 40s]

Taken at the edge of the continental shelf south of Australia. These guys grow a wing of up to 2.5m span.

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Sony A9 and Nikon D500

 

[DRwyoming]

All fantastic shots but I love the wing drag and the little splash of water in that bottom shot. Great work!

 

[Kathy G]

Fantastic Ziggy. Do you have to go out in a boat to see the albatross or do they come to shore?

 

[Roaring 40s]

Thanks Kathy. Yes, we motor out for about 3 hours to get to deep water. Where that hits the shelf there's an upwelling of food that attracts ocean birds.

 

[gordon_g]

I agree with what Dave said... They are all awesome!

 

[Icarus]

Gorgeous shots. I like the head portrait a lot.

 

[Yezdi]

Fantastic images Ziggy... #2 & 3

 

[Roaring 40s]

Thanks for your kind comments folks

 

[Oztours]

@Ziggy do you go out fishing or specifically shooting?

 

[Roaring 40s]

Birdswing runs (ran?) monthly day pelagic trips out of Port Fairy Oztours.

 

[Oztours]

Thanks. Checked out the website. Very interesting. Before I retired, I had thought about going down that route with my tours; however, a little bit of surgery put paid to my plans.

 

[marc]

An excellent selection, #3 is a standout, with that classic trailing wingtip.

TFS

 

[Callie]

Love the mugshot! They are beauts.

 

[gaknott]

Beautiful bird and fantastic photos! Well done, Ziggy!!

 

[Roaring 40s]

Thanks. Checked out the website. Very interesting. Before I retired, I had thought about going down that route with my tours; however, a little bit of surgery put paid to my plans.

Yes, it's pretty demanding on everyone.
That trip is about 9 hours and as you'd expect, can be pretty rough. The last one I had to wedge myself upright for most of the time.
Just for info, Neil has been working on getting out to the shelf near the Vic/Nsw border. From Merimbula that's going to be about 12 hours return but he's trying to set up a tour from Mallacoota instead.

 

[Cristobal]

Very impressive bird and photos

 

[Silver Eagle]

Really nice set. How close did you get to the bird for that portrait shot?

 

[pochito]

I love albatrosses. Thank you for the awesome images

 

[Roaring 40s]

Really nice set. How close did you get to the bird for that portrait shot?

We anchor at the shelf and throw out fish scraps (shark liver is a favourite) that bring them 3-4m away.
If memory serves, that shot was with a D500, 300mm PF and 1.4x TC.