This Stowaway Is an Albatross in Name Only

OAKLAND — A regal albatross, most of whose life is usually spent soaring above the sea, has stowed away on a ship for a ride to the city.

The albatross quit soaring over the Pacific Thursday to land on an Oakland-bound American President Lines freighter.

The white-bodied bird, sporting a seven-foot wingspan, likes to sit, said Rex Burress, keeper at the Rotary Natural Science Center at Lake Merritt Bird Refuge. “They land on ships to rest, I guess,” said Burress, noting that this bird just forgot to lift off again. The bird was found sitting on the dock, was lassoed by a Humane Society officer and taken to the refuge.

The wayward sea bird is scheduled to go back aboard a ship Tuesday for a ride 26 miles outside the Golden Gate Bridge to the Farallon Islands, where it will be turned loose to make its own way back to its natural home in the mid-Pacific.