
World’s oldest known wild bird is a mother again on Midway Atoll - ilamont
https://www.staradvertiser.com/2019/02/11/hawaii-news/worlds-oldest-known-wild-bird-is-a-mother-again-on-midway-atoll-2/
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misterprime
Very cool to see the fruits of a long research project. I had no idea birds
could live that long or produce offspring that long.

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paavoova
I think more interesting is that it, and presumably many others, survived so
long in the wild of all places. Many species are known to have significantly
extended lifespans in captivity compared to the wild, so that alone isn't
unusual. What is is that in all that time, the bird has avoided sickness and
disease, predation, other natural perils, as well as man-made perils
(according to Wikipedia, major man-made threats for the species are fishing,
plastic pollution, lead poisoning, and introduced species), and so on. The
bird is going on 70 and has never had access to modern healthcare - something
unthinkable for modern society.

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ModernMech
Albatrosses have a unique adaptation (dynamic soaring) that allows them to
live most of their lives on the open ocean. They don't face many predators or
even humans out there. Interestingly enough, global warming is actually
helping albatrosses, as increased temperatures lead to increased wind speeds,
allowing them to expand their range.

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felipemnoa
>>Interestingly enough, global warming is actually helping albatrosses

This will always be the case whenever there are some extreme changes to the
environment. Some species will thrive and some will go extinct. The
Cretaceous–Tertiary (K–T) extinction event exterminated three quarters of all
life. We are descendants of those mammals that made it through.

I remember reading somewhere that had it not been for that extinction event we
probably would not be here. Don't know if it's true.

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DrAwdeOccarim
It probably is true. If it weren't true, there would be something very
peculiar about the universe.

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jcims
Just a small token of appreciation for explicitly qualifying this as 'known'
superlative. One of my pet peeves anytime there's a headline discussing the
-est of anything.

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heyjudy
Anthropocentrism isn't big on humility, but is on being "first" or whatever-
est, as if that changed anything. I guess it's purely a game.

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petermcneeley
If these birds mate for life then isnt the mate ~ the same age? Or is this a
until death do us part situation?

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cowmix
Until death.

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hdinnie
Midway is also known as one of the places in the region most polluted with
plastic garbage.

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timClicks
Many of the Pacific Islands are lined with plastic bags. It's really quite
sad.

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mothsonasloth
_Twas right, said they, such birds to slay, That bring the fog and mist_

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MentallyRetired
My father's entire life fit inside of this bird's life. He was born after her
and died before her.

That's insane.

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Bayart
The oldest tortoise around was born during the Industrial Revolution.

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trhway
[https://www.livescience.com/61210-shark-not-512-years-
old.ht...](https://www.livescience.com/61210-shark-not-512-years-old.html)

"Eye tissue analysis presented a probability range suggesting that the sharks
were at least 272 years old, and could potentially be as much as 512 years
old,"

