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July 2007
Albatross!
A rare seabird was rescued on Friday June 29th at Secret World. We were alerted to the grounded animal by Mr Hugh Harris at Warren Farm in Brean Down. Described as a ‘Fulmar’, the bird arrived here and was placed in a casualty pen to recover from its exhaustion.
The following morning the bird was identified as possibly a Black Browed Albatross. Realising that this sea bird would be stressed in captivity, would not feed and would suffer keel and feather condition loss the longer it was held, we immediately put into action a release from Brean Down the same day when the tide was up. We were greatly assisted by the hovercaft rescue team at Burnham on Sea in case the bird was unable to fly and this would allow us to recover the bird from the sea if necessary.
The bird was weighed and found to be in good condition albeit light in weight. On arriving up on the cliffs of Brean Down, we were able to radio liaise with the hovercraft crew below. The Albatross was taken out from it’s box and stood and preened before being encouraged to the cliffs edge. However he did not seem to want to launch himself. Mr Simon Kidner, our charity Administrator picked him up which enabled the bird to stretch its wings (a wingspan of over 2 metres). It then felt the lift of a thermal wind and lifted effortlessly in to the sky. Within 2 minutes he was no longer visible.
We have been criticised for allowing the release to happen so soon but we believe it was in the interest of the bird to do it quickly and quietly returning it to the wild. We were fully aware of the interest that this bird would cause especially as it has since been recognised as a Yellow Nosed Albatross which has only ever been seen twice before in Europe. We feel that this bird was given its best chance and so hope that it survives to help the endangered species that it belongs to.
DVD – A Secret World DVD of the work of our rescue centre will be available soon. This will include exclusive unique footage of the Yellow Nosed Albatross, never before seen in the UK. For more information please contact Secret World on 01278 783250
To find out how you can help the work that Secret World performs, click here
To donate online, please click here
Secret World Wildlife Rescue, New Road, East Huntspill, Highbridge, Somerset TA9 3PZ, UK
Tel. : (44) (01278) 783250, Fax : (44) (01278) 793109
Secret World Wildlife Rescue. A company
limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales.
Company Number: 4672215 Charity Number: 1097119
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Website by Dae Sasitorn,
lastrefuge.co.uk
and Secret World Wildlife Rescue
