University Events

Description: The School for Marine Science and Technology
Department of Estuarine and Ocean Sciences
Seminar Announcement

“How do Albatrosses fly around the world without flapping their wings?”

Philip Richardson
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Wednesday, April 26, 2023
12:30 pm – 1:30 pm
SMAST East, Rooms 101/102
And via Zoom

Abstract:
Wandering albatrosses fly long distances over the Southern Ocean, even around the world, without flapping their wings. This has raised interest in how they perform such a feat. Albatrosses are able to do so by “dynamic soaring,” which extracts energy for flight using the vertical gradient of the wind velocity near the ocean surface. The birds soar in an S-shaped trajectory repeatedly crossing through the wind shear layer while soaring in various directions relative to the wind direction, including directly upwind by tacking like a sailboat. A simple dynamic model explains how this works including defining the minimum wind speed for soaring and the maximum observed airspeed to limit stress on the birds’ wings. Dynamic soaring is an extremely powerful method of gaining energy from the wind; recently albatross-sized radio-controlled gliders have achieved speeds reaching 550 miles per hour using dynamic soaring in winds blowing over mountain ridges. The seminar will describe some general techniques for bird soaring and a brief history of dynamic soaring, which starts with Leonardo da Vinci (1513) and continues with Lord Rayleigh (1883). Long GPS trajectories of wandering albatrosses breeding on South Georgia Island in the far Southern Atlantic are presently being used to investigate their soaring ability and flight characteristics.
********************************************************************************
Join Zoom Meeting
https://umassd.zoom.us/j/97440069270?pwd=L2Z1bDZESTFCKzJYZWduYVhWenYvZz09
Meeting ID: 974 4006 9270
Passcode: 428029
One tap mobile
+13017158592,,97440069270#,,,,*428029# US (Washington DC)
+13126266799,,97440069270#,,,,*428029# US (Chicago)

Dial by your location
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 646 876 9923 US (New York)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
Meeting ID: 974 4006 9270
Passcode: 428029
Find your local number: https://umassd.zoom.us/u/adtxYu9NMO

Join by SIP
97440069270@zoomcrc.com

Join by H.323
162.255.37.11 (US West)
162.255.36.11 (US East)
115.114.131.7 (India Mumbai)
115.114.115.7 (India Hyderabad)
213.19.144.110 (Amsterdam Netherlands)
213.244.140.110 (Germany)
103.122.166.55 (Australia Sydney)
103.122.167.55 (Australia Melbourne)
149.137.40.110 (Singapore)
64.211.144.160 (Brazil)
149.137.68.253 (Mexico)
69.174.57.160 (Canada Toronto)
65.39.152.160 (Canada Vancouver)
207.226.132.110 (Japan Tokyo)
149.137.24.110 (Japan Osaka)
Meeting ID: 974 4006 9270
Passcode: 428029
********************************************************************************
For additional information, please contact Sue Silva at s1silva@umassd.edu