early demise of the big bird race

I first blogged about it before they took off. then I was happy to see my pick in the lead. so smart right I pick this feisty female. and now the whole thing is over. even before any of the birds left australia. they were supposed to travel 6000 miles to south africa. 17 were tagged, none survived. so sad!!! unless they somehow managed to flick the satellite tags off themselves. avocet, the bird I picked was the winner by default, since it made it the furthest west. last year, 3 out of 18 made it across the finish line. this year, none made it past australia, all lost by june 10th. the race was scheduled to end in early august. I suppose this underscores the severity that 19 out of 21 species of albatross are on the brink of extinction.