Wet and Wild Photograph by David Liittschwager and Susan Middleton
A two-month-old Laysan albatross chick (Phoebastria immutablis) got the nickname "Soggy" after the photographers and wildlife biologists rescued it from a nest flooded by a sudden downpour on Sand Island in Midway Atoll. When conditions dried they returned it to the ground nest, where both parents continued to feed it until it fledged at six months. Albatross parents travel thousands of miles from Midway to scoop up food—fish, fish eggs, and squid—where it concentrates, such as in mid-ocean gyres. They regurgitate this into a chick's mouth, often unintentionally also delivering bits of plastic and other marine debris, which can prove fatal to chicks. (Learn more about Soggy in On Assignment.)
1 of 6
Camera: Hasselblad 553 ELX Film Type: Kodak Portra 160NC Lens: 135mm S-Planar Speed and F-Stop: 1/125 @ f/16.5
Weather Conditions: N/A Time of Day: N/A Lighting Techniques: Electronic flash
