Flight of the albatross - Pat Douglass - Wildlife Photographer of the Year2006

2006: Animals in their Environment - Highly Commended

Pat Douglass Enlarge image Flight of the albatross

Pat Douglass (United Kingdom)

Flight of the albatross

Friend to the sailor and icon of the long-distance traveller, an albatross can soar for thousands of kilometres without touching land. South of the Falkland Islands off the tip of South America, on a ship heading for South Georgia, Pat was enjoying a calm, sunny afternoon on deck, 'trying to photograph birds as they skimmed along the water, rising and falling on the air currents at the stern'. As this black-browed albatross dipped close to the water, its wave-rippled reflection provided the extra dimension she was after. 'It was only the second day at sea with many more to come,' explains Pat, 'but I knew I had caught an image symbolic of my journey in the Southern Ocean'. It is also an image few may be able to photograph in the future. So many albatrosses have died on the hooks of longline fisheries that the species is now highly endangered.

Canon 5D with 300mm f4 lens and 1.4x converter; 1/640 sec at f8; 200 ISO.