Albatrosses on temperature watch (BBC) {they're helping report data}

[eppur_se_muova]

By Jonathan Amos
Science reporter, BBC News, San Francisco

Albatrosses are being used to gather huge numbers of sea-surface temperature readings in the North Pacific.

The birds are equipped with small data loggers that track their movements and record water conditions when they touch down to feed or rest.

The project's information could help fill in details missed by satellites, and give important new insights into the behaviour of the great wanderers.
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The research biologist is a group leader on the Tagging of Pacific Pelagics (TOPP) initiative which is tracking 23 top predators in the North Pacific.
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The team has been experimenting with a range of technologies. The equipment, which weighs a few tens of grams at most, is attached either to the legs of the animals or on their backs.


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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6161167.stm

The article includes some reminders of the albatrosses' precarious state -- 19 of 21 species are threatened with extinctio.