Wisdom update.

There's more than one way to take that, of course.  But in this case, I mean Wisdom, the albatross.

You may remember my bit from 2011, when I was searching for a little good news.  Since the steady diet of bad/iffy news is certainly bad for everyone's mental and physical health.  We're kind of in the same place, these days, aren't we?

  Wisdom is back in the news; now estimated to be 62 years old; the oldest known wild bird in the world; she has a brand new chick, which she and her mate are tending carefully.



"After returning from foraging at sea on November 29, 2012, Wisdom (left) attempts to nudge her mate off the nest for her turn at incubating the couple's egg. 
Photos by Pete Leary/USFWS."


  It's truly wonderful to know we share the planet with her.  One thing the WaPo points out, that wasn't clear before; in her lifetime; she's likely flown at least 3 million miles since she was first banded.  Quite a few more details, and contacts with the USGS, who is doing the work, here.

    Kind of oddly, I thought, this rather breathless story in the Washington Post missed the story from after the 2011 tsunami.  It washed over Midway; drowning a lot of albatross chicks; but not Wisdom's.

  Then; shortly after I read this heartening bit about a great survivor- news of a new Pacific tsunami hit the ether.  The Solomons are a long ways from Midway, though.  At the moment, I think the waves have probably reached and passed Midway, and though deadly in the Solomons, they will likely have attenuated to minor proportions at Midway.

Stay tuned.