Albatrosses are renowned for their long and far flights. They feed on marine fish, mollusks, and crustaceans, and their ability to cover large distances aids in their search for food.
Sometimes albatrosses catch fish right from the surface of the water, and sometimes they need to dive. It was previously thought that these birds do not dive very deep, a maximum of 6–9 meters (for animals that feed in the sea and spend almost their entire lives in the ocean, this is indeed not very much).
However, a recent article published in Current Biology claims that albatrosses can dive twice as deep — at least some of their species. Researchers who attached special sensors to black-browed albatrosses found that about half of them dive to depths greater than ten meters, with the maximum depth they can reach being nineteen meters; they can stay underwater for up to 52 seconds. (It was previously believed that black-browed albatrosses do not dive deeper than six meters and can only remain underwater for 15 seconds.)
As for other species of albatrosses, it is still unknown how their diving abilities compare; we may be underestimating their capabilities in this regard as well.
