Two Wandering Albatross



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    Chapter One
    Alba and Alban 
    Surreal Blue and Yellow Waves with Golden Sun by laurel sobol

    Alba and Alban were both born on a remote place called Macquarie Island located south of 
    Australia.  Alba and Alban are no ordinary albatrosses, they are extra special birds because of 
    the rare numbers of their species on this remote island.  
      They are the largest albatrosses of the world called the Wandering 
    Albatross. They have a wingspan about 11 feet long and body length of 3-4 feet long. They have 
    the longest wingspan in the world.
      Alban is a little bigger than Alba and he has more feathers on his head than Alba.  Alba has 
    slightly bigger eyes than Alban and an extra skip in her step when she walks with her big pink 
    webbed feet with three toes in front.  Alban has a bill that is sturdy and strong reflecting his 
    determined character.
      Alban and Alba loved their parents who raised them for over a year and taught them to fly and 
    survive in all kinds of weather over the course of several years.  They also love one another and 
    are mates for life.  They are young adult albatrosses now who are about 12 years old.  Alba and 
    Alban have a great love for each other that is even unusual among albatrosses in the animal 
    world.  The love they share is so powerful that a glow seems to emanate and flow between them 
    and around them wherever they go.  Like a cloud of love if you will that is like a golden halo 
    about them.  
      When Alban and Alba fly together they fly in tandem like aeronautical flight dynamic 
    masterpieces of pure genius in action.  Alban tends to lead the team but when he tires Alba 
    takes the lead like geese tend to do when they fly long distances in their classic V formations.
      Alba and Alban love the ocean and the waves in all kinds of weather.  They are the warriors of 
    the sea and have many surprises that people have yet to learn about.  Alba and Alban are 
    expecting to have a long life together, spending at least 50 years with one another, and traveling 
    around and about the globe numerous times altogether.  Through all kinds of weather and every 
    kind of condition, coming into contact with all kinds of sea animals and humans with their 
    unusual activities and situations.
      The world was still theirs to discover, their wonderful world 
    filled with wild and exhilarating winds, wind currents, wind tunnels, typhoons, hurricanes, 
    water spouts, tsunamis, and other unknowns of nature yet to be seen by Alban and Alba.
      Alba and Alban love to skirt the waves just above the froth and foam, it gives them lift draft to 
    fly in all the aerodynamic acrobatic styles they love to fly.  Mainly they use their stiff, thick, long 
    wings for fancy flight dynamic and slope soaring.  Dynamic soaring is flying high into the wind 
    and coming down, gaining energy from it, called the vertical wind gradient.  Slope soaring is 
    flight using rising air on the windward side of large waves.  Albatross have high glide ratios 
    which means that for every three feet, or meter, they drop in flight while in the air, they can 
    travel forward 22 meters (or 66 feet).  Albatross have a built in bionic flight template called a 
    shoulder lock, a sheet of tendon that locks the wing when it is fully extended, giving the wing the 
    flat out stretched board flight dynamics to fly long distances with little to no effort on the part of 
    the albatross.
       Alba and Alban had learned long ago to avoid the many hazards in the sea that could harm 
    them like fishing tackle, plastic bait and lines, plastic trash from human waste and refuse. 
     Alba and Alban like to eat squid and use their powerful smell detection to find it and other fish 
    that sperm whales and other whales leave behind after feeding or regurgitating their food.
      Today Alba and Alban had flown from dawn to dusk on a perfectly lovely day with just the 
    right amount of sun and wind, waves and food supply.  It was a very good day and Alban had  
    taken the lead for most of the day and Alba didn’t even mind one tiny bit.  At sunset the two 
    youthful albatross found themselves resting together on a coral reef somewhere north of 
    Australia near the Great Barrier Reef.
      Alban and Alba were no ordinary birds, they were extra special, and they were going to spin 
    The world on it’s axis, yes they were!
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    Chapter Two
    The Force of Nature
    Sea Turtle with Clown Fish by Laurel Marie Sobol 

      Alban and Alba woke up before dawn and quickly gave one another nudges on the beak   to
    assure each other it would be a great day.  They stretched out their wings and legs and 
    paddled a little before they skirted the water like they were trying to walk on it fast in their
    attempt to take flight with their gigantic 11 feet wide wingspans.  Then they caught the 
    wind behind a big wave and the updraft lifted their wings in one of the most beautiful
    ballet aerodynamic flight take-offs ever seen on the planet earth.  Up, up, and away as 
    smooth as the silky wind itself…and then they were gliding like they had never landed 
    in their entire life.  The gliding was so smooth that to see it would bring shivers of sheer
    joy to one lucky enough to view it.
      Alban led the duo above the Great Barrier Reef with Alba just a little behind his wing tip
    Almost touching his.  They were checking out the area for this was a new place for them.  
    They had not been to this spot before and it was of interest to them because they wanted
    to see everything there was to see.  They could smell the sperm whales that fed on their 
    favorite squid, so they knew that food was going to be had for them if they were patient,
    and they would not be disappointed.  The highly sensitive smelling tubes around their bills
    were indicating that the sperm whales may have food for them soon.  So Alban and Alba
    decided to take an updraft high up into the sky and fly well above the reef below.  
      In doing so they saw a large pod of sperm whales hunting for food and preparing for the
    snare of netting a  bunch of squid with their bubble nets.  Alban and Alba had all the time 
    in the world to wait and watch.  If patience had a word for it in the animal world, albatross
    would fill the bill, for they have great patience.  They continued to take a grand tour of the
    Great Barrier Reef throughout the day and into the evening.  They saw all kinds of amazing
    animals from the skies at various elevations.  They saw stingrays, sharks, whales, corals in
    rainbow colors, sea turtles of amazingly big sizes, and all kinds of fish of all sizes and shapes.
      Night came and the sky became azure blue, then the stars began to come out and the sky turned into a star sapphire blue, it was so brilliant that it was mesmerizing.  
    The stars  began
    to shimmer and twinkle in a most beautiful and magical way.  The Milky Way seemed to 
    dance with the rhythm of the sea and the wind, or was it with the rhythm of the heartbeat,
    it was hard to tell…Which ever it was it was great and wonderful.  Now it was time for
    Alba and Alban to find their food.  They honed in on it like the eagles of the sea they were. 
      They found the place where the sperm whales had fed and gorged themselves and they
    Landed near the spot now clear of any whales, fish, or other predators.  Alba and Alban
    ate the squid left over from the sperm whale hunt until they were full.  Then they rested 
    some more, let the food digest a little so it could make room for more food, and then
    they ate some more.  They did this for hours in the night.  By midnight the albatrosses were
    so full they could not lift off the ocean no matter how hard they tried, or how great the up-
    draft of the wind was behind a great wave, because they were bogged down with bellies full
    of squid galore.  They were happily stuffed so long as they were left alone by any 
    and all predators.  Alban and Alba could paddle with their long legs in the water 
    wherever they wanted to go. 
     They paddled to the safest and securest places they could find during the 
    daytime hours so that they would not be detected by anyone and bothered.  They 
    needed to wait for their bulging bellies to return to a more normal size before they 
    could resume their flight.  So they waited and played with each other in the warm 
    waters that came by them every once in a while between cool and cold currents of 
    water between times.
      They spent the night in a beautiful rocky coral outcropping and rested while they 
    were at it.  
    Alban and Alba knew it would take more energy to lift off from the ocean than it 
    took to stay in the sky and fly for the most part.  
      Morning came very early with a golden dust of fog that looked mysteriously like 
    star dust.  
    It gave an impression that the whole Great Barrier Reef was a magical place, but 
    then it was, of course.  
    There were things beneath the sea that Alba and Alban could not see that were
    amazing beyond belief such as leafy sea dragons and other wonderful creatures.
      Alban and Alba treaded the water late that afternoon as they caught the wind 
    and took to the air once more.
      They were in no hurry to leave the reef, it was vast, huge 
    beyond measure and it held a magnetic attraction for the two albatrosses of which 
    they could not explain.
      They felt almost compelled to stay in this place of almost surreal beauty
    as it seemed to call to their internal instincts, their ancient calling that spoke to 
    their very soul and heart.  The very thing that they had to be attuned to in order 
    to survive in the wild.

    Leafy Sea Dragon by Laurel Marie Sobol


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    Chapter Three
    Hazards of the Sea Inches Below the Surface

    Waveswept by Laurel Marie Sobol

    Across the globe humans have increasingly become more and more cleaver at 
    catching and harvesting food from the sea.  In the name of science exploration, 
    and the need for human necessities such as whale bone corsets for fashionably
    dressed women not so long ago, animals of the sea have dwindled by great
    numbers.  Sea birds have suffered the consequences of over hunting sea life as
    well.
      For quite some time fishermen around the world have been using a special way
    to fish called long line fishing.  Long line fishing is claiming the lives of an 
    estimated 300, 000 sea birds every year.
     Long line fishing involves long lines trailing from boats, which can be 100 km (60 

    miles) in length. Baited hooks are set at intervals, in order to snare large predatory fish, 

    such as swordfish, tuna and halibut. But birds are also tempted by the bait, often with 

    fatal consequences, especially for juvenile birds.  Why do so many animals die every

    year in this fishing process?  It is because the long lines are shallow lines with bait

    that is easy for many sea animals and birds to get at.  They grab the bait, and down 

    they go, to their doom.  

      Those early deaths are contributing to the long-term decline of many sea-bird species. 

    Of 22 albatross species worldwide, 17 are classified as threatened.  The albatross slow 

    rate of reproduction, and great rate of death per year for their young populations, it is no

    wonder they are being threatened to the very edge of extinction.  What are some of the 

    solutions for the problem?  

      Alban and Alba were aware of the deaths of their 

    missing friends and family because after a hunt for food they would never come up to fly

    ever again.  Alban and Alba had scientific minds for birds, they were extraordinarily

    brilliant, with minds keener and sharper than any albatross yet to be seen on the planet

    before.  Their eyes peered deeper and further into and around what they looked at.  

    Their minds gathered data and information from what their eyes, ears, noses, instincts, 

    sense of touch, heart and soul relayed to their brains and translated there in those 

    genius processing brains of theirs.  

      After traveling the globe several time already in their eleven years on the planet, Alba 

    and Alban had collected data that was priceless in value because nothing could buy 

    the valuable data they stored within their minds.  The information was very important to 

    relay with the world, and Alban and Alba knew this, they just didn’t know how to tell 

    people how to stop the needless deaths of the sea birds from the long line fishing 

    techniques.  They also had information about other dangers in the sea that were killing 

    off albatross and so many other kinds of sea animals like sea turtles, seagulls, and even

    fish.  

      Alban and Alba knew that plastic was a strange thing, it was not a fish, it did not look 

    like a fish, it did not smell like a fish, and it did not feel like a fish.  They knew it was 

    definitely  not a fish.  Why didn’t the other albatrosses, sea life and animals, know this

    too?  

      They were also on a mission to tell the birds around the world to stay away from the 

    tempting fishing boats with the easy to catch bait. 

     Alban and Alba decided that every time they saw their friends or other 

    animals falling for the long line bait trick, they would warn them about it, and their

    animal friends would get away from the deathly long lines trailing from the fishing boats.

      So when Alban and Alba left the Great Barrier Reef they did not do what all normal

    Albatrosses have done for centuries. 

      Alba and Alban are not only genius birds, they are new age birds, with new ideas like

    New Era Renaissance thinkers, and they are unstoppable.  They are the new birds 

    that would be the leaders of bird technology-built on survival of the smartest, fittest, and

    most willing to grow and evolve with the changing times.  Alban and Alba were now 

    equipped with a new humanitarian effort to change the world forever.  Their flight looked 

    different, their silhouettes looked more serious and formal, their bills appeared to be 

    pronounced and determined, and their body language said, “Troops lead the way, we

    have a mission to accomplish…Save the sea birds and sea life!” Their shapes became 

    distant shadows, but their stances remained the same, they looked like to valiant 

    generals in a war against heinous crimes against innocent creatures of the sea and sky.


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    Chapter Four
    Winging It
    By Laurel Marie Sobol

      Alban and Alba began their long distance cruise with bodies set in motion heading due 
    east.  Their chests were sturdy and puffed out a bit, their shoulders broad and straight
    across the shoulders with the muscle tendons hard and taught the way they were 
    intended to be on long and arduous flights through all kinds of weather.  Alban and
    Alba were accustomed to flying in any weather that mother nature had to send their 
    way.  
      Alban and Alba were taught by their parents how to fly with the weather wind 
    systems in ways that many migratory birds utilized around the globe.  Winds high
    above the earth circling the globe are often used as vehicular transport systems
    to move birds at high speeds and long distances to their destinations with the
    least effort on the part of the birds themselves. 
     The high winds do most of the work transporting the birds from one place to another 
    with great efficiency, which allows birds to move and migrate great distances to find 
    food around the globe and raise their young, in the most suitable places they need and 
    require to do it whether by instinct,  habit, or necessity.
      Upon leaving the coast of Australia, the flying duet took a warm updraft to a high 
    elevation, and flew steadily for hours and hours without beating their wings at all.

      They felt warmer winds flowing towards them and knew that they would be catching 
    the new wind current in the same way a person might catch a bus or train.  
      Alba and Alban flew closer towards the warmer comforting winds, amid cool and frigid
    blasts of torrid arctic winds, eager to merge with the main stream of  the high pressure
    system blowing in.  They spent most of their time at and around the sea, about 92% of
    their lives so far, and that would remain true for the rest of their lives.  They were 
    sea faring birds, giants of the air and sea, professional gliders of earth air currents and
    wave surfers.  The Wwandering albatrosses were a most magical bird on earth, beautiful, 
    exquisite, mesmerizing, mind boggling, and fortunate.
      The warmer winds zoomed across the upper elevations of the earth’s skies as Alba
    and Alban made phenomenally great time flying from the Great Barrier Reef of 
    Australia towards the Galapagos Islands.
      Alba and Alban were looking for the fishing boats with long lines baited with shallow 
    attached shallow lures and bait all along the way for about 60 miles out from the 
    back end of the fishing boats.  This is the area where Alba and Alban remembered 
    seeing the last long lines of shallow bait in the ocean with their family the last time
    they traveled through here about a year ago.  
      Alba and Alban decided that they would swoop and swirl and dive and dance in the 
    skies high above the general zone so they could keep a good sniff on things with their
    spectacular nose tubes.  They would also keep an eye on the vicinity with their eagle
    like vision that could spot any type of aberration or unusual circumstances in the area
    that would indicate that the long line fishermen were up to their fishing tactics.  So 
    they went to work and stayed working the area performing one of the longest 
    ballet dances of their lives, which was actually anything but a dance, it was a 
    technical flight maneuver for survival to save their family and friends.  
      Alba an Alban were sleuths, detectives of the air, trying to avoid problems before
    they occurred for the survival of their species was at stake.  
      The warm updraft winds did their part and kept up perfect conditions for the two
    Wandering Albatrosses to take full advantage of the long haul flight mission of 
    circling around and around in great big circuits.  At times all that could be seen of
    Alba and Alban were two dust specs in the sky near the heavens, and more rarely,
    they could be seen flying like two extinct pterodactyl dinosaur era birds at close range,
    seeming to have come out of another time and age.

    Midnight Wave by Laurel Marie Sobol

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    Chapter Five
    The Race is On To Save the Albatross Youth
    By Laurel Marie Sobol

    Dolphins at Play in the Golden Sun by Laurel Marie Sobol

    
    Alba and Alban had spent two weeks in this area centered between Australia and the Galapagos 

    Islands as they patrolled the skies like a couple of fighter jets flying in unison awaiting the long

    line fishing vessels that fished the world’s oceans.  Alba and Alban were waiting for one of these

    expected vessels that tended to come to this place, time and again over the years,  according to their 

    ultra keen memories and intellects.  

      According to Alba and Alban it is the young albatrosses who are the most vulnerable to dying 

    as they try to catch the easy bait lining the 60 mile long fishing lines that sit just inches below the 

    surface of the ocean.  

    The older albatross know better than to go after the easy bait on the long line

    fishing vessels out to catch big fish like tuna.  The young albatrosses needed Alba and Alban to steer 

    them away from the long line fish bait that was too tempting for them to restrain themselves.

      Alba and Alban mainly were so high in the sky they could not be seen from the ocean below.  They

    didn’t have to work hard to stay high up in the air where they weighed less, and the air was thinner, 

    their wings had less work to do in flight and they needed less energy to get by every day.  At night 

    they often came down to feed on the squid that came up to the surface to feed, especially on moon lit

    nights.

      Then Alba and Alban would land in the midst of a great bunch of squid and eat as much as

    they pleased.  They made sure to eat enough to fill up on, not too much to bog them down, so that

    they could take to the sky whenever they wanted.  This way they would be ready for any emergent

    situation that would require their quick movements,  swift decision making, and anything else that

    may come up unexpectedly that they may have to deal with.

     Alba and Alban were not paying attention to time as people do, they were attentive to other details, 

    like the movement of large fish like tuna and marlin, which the long line fishing vessels were after

    with their tracking devices they used onboard their crafts.  The fishermen used radar and sonar to

    locate and track the fish.  They spent a great deal of money on fuel and supplies to bait the long lines

    they needed to trail behind their fishing boats.  They spent a lot of time out at sea to make sure they

    could get enough fish to pay for the fishing trip, expenses, bait, food and supplies, boat and 

    maintenance costs, and the people needed to help catch the fish and bait the lines and things.  It was a 

    huge job with huge costs.  

      Alba and Alban, as well as some people who have studied the loss of bird life on the high seas 

    resulting from the common practice of long line fishing around the globe, were knowledgeable about

    one simple thing that could change the lives of the Wandering Albatross in a positive way 

    forever-if it was just implemented.

      The general idea was to get the long line fishermen to understand

    that if they just used heaver sinkers to hold their bait down several feet deeper under the ocean 

    surface, then the lives of millions of sea birds such as the Wandering Albatross would be saved!

      Finally the day came as dawn was breaking, Alba and Alban had taken to the sky earlier by about an

    hour or so, and as they were high in the sky they could hear the sound of the fishing boat engine

    approaching from the east.  It was coming their way, and it was entirely expected by Alba and Alban

    because they had heard the sounds and felt the pulses, of large numbers of big fish coming their way

    as they had settled gently on the ocean surface in the wee hours of the night and into the morning.  It 

    was like a train slowly moving their way.

      The fishing boat was not far behind them and moving up

    and around them fast, so they could pass them, lay down their 60 mile lines, and then wait as the

    hungry fish ate the bait just sitting on the ocean waiting there for them.  Then the fishermen just

    had to pick the fish out of the sea just as pretty as you please, with a bunch of unfortunate albatross

    caught in the baited hooks, too gone to save or already lost, an unfortunate byproduct of fishing

    according to the fishermen who just wanted to catch fish, sell them, and eat it.  The fishermen had

    their side of the story and the albatross had theirs…but this problem could be resolved with a little

    love and care from the fishermen and the people who loved the sea birds.  Where there is a will there

    is a way.

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    Alba and Alban Two Unusual Albatross Discovering the World Together
    Chapter Six
    Time to Rock and Roll
    By Laurel Marie Sobol

    Waves of Sweeping Beauty by Laurel Marie Sobol  
      
    Alba and Alban Two Unusual Albatross Discovering the World Together
      The long line fishing boat headed east slowly unwinding the 60 miles of lightly weighted 
    down baited lines as they trailed off.  The fishermen had done what they had successfully 
    done so often over the years, located the fish they were after, went around them and set the
    bait to catch them directly in their path.
      All they had to do was wait for nature to take it’s course, and that was for the fish to bite 
    the bait,  and then all they had to do was slowly reel in the fish on the 60 mile long lines.
      At least this is how most of this type of fishing was done.   The lines would otherwise get 
    tangled up in a gigantic mess.  
      The stage was set, the long line fishing vessel was well ahead of the targeted fish, lines 
    reeled out, and now all the guys had to do was wait for the fish to bite.  The sun was high in 
    the sky as the first school of tuna approached the baited lines, other big fish followed, 
    including sharks, marlin, dolphins, and other fish and sea birds.
      This is exactly what Alban and Alban were waiting so long and patiently for.  Their 
    family, friends, and relatives would soon be blowing in behind them on the easterly winds 
    following the trails of the large schools of fish.  
      Alba and Alban and the long line fishermen were not the only ones waiting for the great 
    migrating schools of tuna, marlin, other fish, whales, and sea birds.  There was a special
    operations boat that had been tracking the long line fishing boat, because the long line 
    fishing boats were now considered internationally to be a hazard to sea birds, who were 
    victims in the long line fishing operation.  Resulting in the near extinction of the
    Wandering Albatross, and other birds were dying too, and it was up to the world 
    community to make a change for the betterment of these birds one and all.
      The special operations boat had no name or flag on it, it remained unmarked because it 
    Represented the global interest in the concerted effort to aid the desperate plight of the 
    Wandering Albatross, other albatross, sea birds and wildlife, it was a very nondescript 
    vessel that was highly understated with the electronic and technical components and 
    capabilities needed to meet the demands of rescuing sea life from fishermen like the ones 
    operating the long line fishing boats.  Fishermen out at sea had to be prepared to meet
    pirates, other dangers out at sea, and needed a means to protect themselves in case 
    they were in trouble.
      Plus, they didn’t know how rough, rowdy, or unruly the international group crusaders 
    trying to rescue all the sea life, albatrosses, and sea that they possibly could, from them 
    would?  
      The rescuers of the Wandering Albatross, other albatross, sea birds and sea life, was a 
    smart state of the art craft that was well equipped with radar, sonar, cameras, and other 
    great devices for their missions.  It was made of steel and had a triple bow layer for 
    ramming protection.
     It carried a sizable crew of enough people to man the boat with several other people to 
    man two lighter skiffs that inflated quickly. The international animal rescue ship was
    outfitted with scuba diving gear, oxygen tanks, gas masks, and an abundance of food and 
    water. 
      The two swift jet skiffs with jet pack engines could reach top speeds safely and 
    effectively in time to save more animals faster. 
      Ten people dressed in scuba diving gear hopped into two of 
    the inflatable skiffs with jet pack engines, and prepared for a long battle with the long line 
    fishermen.  
      Alba and Alban were high overhead in the sky above all the action developing below.  
    They were waiting for their albatross sea friends and family to approach a little closer. 
     It was time to go after them now, so Alba and Alban flew higher yet searching for a cool 
    draft of air that would send them westward.  Their fine tube nostrils along their beaks 
    led them in the right direction, and away they went like two shooting comets streaking 
    across the sky towards their family and friends! 
       The Wandering Albatross traveling in great numbers were surprised to see
    Alban and Alba alone on the high seas coming to greet them just before they were about
    to get to their hunting grounds. 
      Alban and Alba both spoke to the Matriarch and Patriarch Wandering 
    Albatrosses who were leading the flock of giant sea faring birds on the hunt and through 
    life.  They said, “Stop and don’t go any further!  It isn’t safe up ahead!  The long line 
    fishing boats are waiting east of here.
      They have miles and miles of baited lines with fish that our young albatross 
    group members think are safe and easy to get food!  The young albatross will 
    almost all die, most will drown, and the rest will be too hurt to survive the ordeal of living
    with the lead weights with the hooks in their stomachs and mouths.  Everyone must stay
    away from the fishing boats!  Stay away or you may not live to fish another day.”
      Alba and Alban flew around the entire flock of Wandering Albatrosses telling all of the 
    giant sea birds the story over and over again.  The Wandering Albatrosses with some age
    and experience spoke up and agreed,  they also started to spread the word with Alban and 
    Alba.  Soon, all the Wandering Albatrosses were speaking and sharing word about the
    danger of going anywhere near the long line fishermen and their hooks and bait.  
      The Patriarch and Matriarch Wandering Albatross stately changed direction from the 
    way they had been moving towards the long line fishing vessels loaded with easy to get bait.
    They moved higher and higher into the sky taking warm updrafts until the entire 
    Wandering Albatross Flock was a small speck of dust in the horizon far to the west.
      The plan, so well thought out by Alban and Alba, had worked.  Alba and Alban were 
    ecstatic with joy.  They flew in the happiest circles of joy they could make, and flew as high
    into the sky as possible, and they actually did a cartwheel or two in flight before doing a 
    full revolution two times in a row!  
      Then they flew back towards the long line fishing lines where the 
    scuba divers, with their boats, were jetting around the baited long lines, trying to save
    as many sea birds they could that had come into contact with the shallow bait in the water. 
      Sea birds were snared everywhere as they had been caught by the hooks holding the bait, 
    and began to panic and die.  The two boats operated quickly and efficiently to  save as 
    many birds and sea life as possible.
      After securing the safety of the animals the best they could and counting the death toll, 
    they pursued the long line fishing vessel as well.  They felt powerful feelings of sadness 
    and resentment that all the dead and injured animals were now either gone forever or 
    likely damaged for life.  They were in hot pursuit of the long line fishing vessel east of 
    their present position.  The people on the swift jet boats were rushing the long liner like
    they didn’t see it, but they did, and just before they almost went through it, they stopped so 
    abruptly that the spray of water splashed so high it splashed a good deal of 
    the long line crew.
    The international rescue team jettisoned around the long liner as they continued to harass 
    them.
      Dressed in their wetsuits, the rescuers swiftly and deftly swept around the long line fishing 
    vessel, and using a loud speaker said, “Do you realize what you are doing to the sea birds 
    of the oceans around the world?  Do you know you are taking out almost half a million sea 
    birds every year by your fishing tactics?
      Do you know you could be doing so much good with 
    a few little changes in the way you fish, that everyone would be a winner?  All you have to
    do is put heavier weights on the bait so that it drops down deeper into the ocean.  Then 
    most of the sea birds wouldn’t be attracted to it, or get caught in it and die.”  
      The humanitarian rescuers in the swift jet boats with their wet suits on spoke to the 
    fishermen in many languages to insure that everyone on board understood what they were 
    saying.  They circled the fishing vessel and told the fishermen that if they didn’t stop 
    fishing in this cruel way towards wildlife that they would be back with more people and 
    more boats to aid in the effort to eradicate ruthless and inhumane treatment of innocent 
    animals and sea life.  
      The rescuers held several long flag banners with bold black letters reading, ‘Stop 
    Wandering Albatross Extinction,’ ‘Save Sea Birds!’
     They also stated that they would bring the matter to the international community of 
    people around the world and before the attention of caring people who ate tuna and marlin
    too so that consumers could make wise choices for themselves about what they would and
    would not buy in order to protect animals, especially one like the Wandering Albatross,
    from the verge of extinction.  People could make their own choices about whether to buy
    tuna or other fish that are affected by the long line fishing practices.  Less tuna eaten 
    means less boats out to catch more, equates to less long lines out to hurt or destroy 
    the Wandering Albatross, albatross and other sea birds and animals.  In turn the young
    Wandering Albatross will again survive and thus thrive and fortune returns to the 

    seas, the sky, and the world.

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    Alba and Alban Two Unusual Albatross Discovering the World Together: Author Laurel Marie Sobol    laurelsobol@yahoo.com

    Chapter Seven
    Flights of Fancy
    By Laurel Marie Sobol
    Alban and Alba were exuberantly happy to have helped save the lives of the many Wandering
    Three Dolphins Dancing in the Sea by Laurel Marie Sobol 

    Albatross sea birds they had helped save that day.  They were not happy about the loss of the
    unfortunate sea birds, and sea life, that died that day resulting from the long line fishing 
    tactics. 
      Alban and Alba knew they had to thank a special group of courageous humans who
    looked funny in their black shiny wet suits on, jetting around the ocean with their loud speakers
    and splashing up water, making a lot of commotion, and recording the entire event on cameras
    for the world to see.
      Alban led Alba to the international rescuers main ship, just as the two 
    jet boats homed in to their mother ship, and boarded her, and they began their serenade of the
    rescuers in a life celebration of thanks and gratitude.
      Alba and Alban made sure that all eyes of the humans were locked on them as they slowly
    circled the international ship of care.  Then Alba and Alban did what they do best, they worked
    their ballet magic in the sky.  They swooped, did great revolutions, flew up to the heavens until 
    the humans could not see them at all, and then they came back into view flying as straight as
    two arrows shot from a bow string simultaneously rocketing parallel to the waves of the sea.  They 
    rose upwards then and gained elevation, working the warm wind drafts like the USA Blue Angels,
    curving to the right and to the left,  moving with wing tips a half inch from each other.  Their 
    dance continued in elaborate moves and maneuvers for another hour of sheer, stunning, daring feats
    that only Alban and Alba had been able to master in the world of birds and albatrosses.  
      The humans on the ship below could not take their eyes off Alban and Alba, and their jaws were
    open in astonishment,  amazement, delight and joy.  When Alban and Alba finished their special
    dance of thanks to the humans, they gave one final fly by to them, with their wings solemnly one 
    centimeter apart as they stately flew east like two slow flying USA Navy fighter jets…Flying well
    out of the path of the long line fishing vessels.

    Surreal Waves by Laurel Marie Sobol
    Alban and Alba flew east towards the Galapagos Islands with the rest of their Wandering 
    Albatross flock heading that way.  They swept well away from the long line fishing vessels
    they came across along the way, as there were more than a few, and then as always Alba and
    Alban found every opportunity to find time to explore on their own away from the rest of the
    flock.
      The days blended into one another as they tend to do out on the ocean.  The sea mist blew coolness 
    into Alban and Alba’s feathered faces, through their plumage of feathers, and strengthened their very
    souls.  They had just completed one of the most daring feats of their young lives when they 
    averted the Wandering Albatross flock from nearing the long line fishing tackle and bait, waiting
    to claim the youthful albatrosses, too young to know they could die from the easy pickings.
      Alba and Alban knew there were far too many flocks around the globe to reach in time to 
    save and protect from the long line fishermen.  Long line fishermen were to be found globally, 
    which didn’t help Alba and Alban’s plan about spreading the word about the hazards involved in
    long line fishing, they needed more human help and they knew it.  Their plea for help was out.  It
    was now in the hands of the humans to do their part.  Still, they would do everything they could, 
    all the years of their lives, to help save their fellow sea bird relatives and friends.  Life was too
    precious to waste.


        



      
      








      
      








    
    







      



      
      

                                 


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