CHAPTER 2
Taking the Plunge
Seabirds’ First Journeys
None of us remembers being born. But suppose the normal human tra-
jectory was to spend the years up to adolescence in the confines of a
deep dark cave, or perhaps in a tree house, there being fed by our par-
ents. Eventually the day would arrive when we ventured forth. Leaving
the cave, dropping out of the tree, would be such a life- changing transi-
tion that it would surely trace an indelible memory.
When the time to leave the nest arrives, many a seabird experiences
a transition of similar magnitude. Think of a young guillemot that has
spent 20 days amid the clamour and guano of another hundred chicks