Two rare albatrosses rehabbed at bird center and released off San Pedro coast

By Carley Dryden, Daily Breeze

POSTED: 04/02/15, 3:54 PM PDT | UPDATED: 16 MINS AGO

They were rescued separately, one trapped between cargo containers on a ship into Long Beach, the other in the middle of the desert, but two rare albatrosses were released together Thursday afternoon in the ocean off San Pedro.

 (Scott Varley / Daily Breeze) 

With their striking gray and black eyes against a snow-white head and enormous wingspan, Laysan albatrosses are a sight to behold, if one is lucky enough to see one. The rare seabirds typically settle on remote islands in the North Pacific. But over the past couple of weeks, the adult birds have been gliding across a small pool at the International Bird Rescue Center in San Pedro, awaiting the OK for their release.

The bird rescued March 21 from the Port of Long Beach was drenched in grease and cleaned by center staff, but otherwise healthy. The man who found the bird estimated that it had been stuck between the cargo containers for up to 10 days.

The other bird was found March 20 near a construction site in the desert city of Rancho Mirage, 100 miles from the Pacific Ocean.

“He got marooned in the desert, literally,” said Julie Skoglund, the center’s operations manager. “Albatrosses need wind and a runway to take off.”

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