30 | Chapter 2
it was the norm for immature birds of many species to remain entirely
at sea, and out of reach of scientists, for a year or more. For sure, some
ringed birds were found dead in those early months and years, provid-
ing significant pointers to their direction and speed of travel. But this
information was quite skimpy. What has recently been discovered about
the very first journeys made by young seabirds as they embark upon a
life on the ocean waves?
One obvious distinction is between species that quit the colony by
swimming and those that fly away. At times, this is blindingly obvious;
penguins only swim. Yet this does not preclude impressive journeys. The
first major journey of young Emperor Penguins satellite- tracked over
two months from the Ross Sea region of Antarctica by Gerald Kooyman
and Paul Ponganis took them almost 20 degrees northward, equivalent
to a swim from Miami to Boston.^1 Good swimmers they may be, but the
young penguins still lack the diving abilities of older birds, at least partly
because the amount of myoglobin, the critical oxygen- carrying protein
in their muscles, remains well below adult levels.^2
No turning back! A fledging Wandering Albatross takes its first flight.