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The greatest ocean wanderer, |
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with its two-metre wingspan, |
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is the albatross. |
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To find enough food for its oversized offspring, |
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this black-footed albatross may have travelled |
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a staggering 6,000 miles across the open ocean |
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looking for hot spots of squid and fish. |
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The albatross nest on the tiny Hawaiian islands of French Frigate Shoals. |
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This island may be only half a mile long, |
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but it provides a base for around 300,000 seabirds. |
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With food so hard to come by in the open ocean, |
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newly hatched sooty tern chicks are easy pickings for the larger frigate birds. |
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For hours on end, they survey the nesting grounds, |
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waiting for a chance to strike. |
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A mother tries desperately to protect her helpless chick. |
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But an unguarded chick is desperately vulnerable. |
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It's what the frigate has been waiting for. |
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No wonder the crew of the Essex called them the "man-of-war" birds. |
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For two weeks, |
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the frigate birds keep up their relentless aerial assault |
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until finally the sooty tern chicks are old enough to get away. |
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