"Russell, a contract scientist with the Farallon Institute and a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California, San Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, said it's all but impossible to determine why the bird ended up so far from its home. "It likely didn't breed last season because adults lay their egg in spring and the chicks leave the nests by January," Russell said in an email."
"Russell noted that if multiple birds were being seen in California, it could be a sign they were being driven northward by environmental factors. Previously, she has written about five species of Booby that are now common off California because of warming temperatures and marine heatwaves. As for the lone albatross, "If this is a sign of this species moving north, we now have some baseline data when we first detected one," Russell added."
A waved albatross was observed by scientists on a research vessel off the central California coast, marking the second recorded sighting north of Central America. The bird was 23 miles (37 kilometers) off Point Piedras Blancas, roughly midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Researchers classified the albatross as a vagrant traveling far outside its typical range. Russell said it is nearly impossible to determine why it traveled so far and suggested it likely did not breed last season and may be wandering during a non-breeding year. Russell noted that multiple sightings could signal northward movement driven by warming temperatures and marine heatwaves, and that this sighting provides baseline data for potential range shifts.
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