I just got back from a long trip to the southern hemisphere in which I got to see a lot of albatrosses and got some lecturing about them as well. They are fascinating critters. For those who do not know I will mention that the wandering albatross is at this time at least the largest bird in the world, with a huge wingspan, often in the ten foot range. They are so well designed for aerodynamic efficiency (and for sensing their environment) that they spend their entire lives at sea except when they come ashore to breed. They tend to fly very low, right above the waves even occasionally dipping a wing into the water, taking advantage of the lifting currents produced by the waves themselves. Their wings are evolved to lock horizontally, and they rarely if ever flap them when flying, but instead they bank to catch currents and get lift, and make micro-adjustments to trim. They are so efficient that their heart rate is slower when flying than it is when not flying. Albatross are fascinating to watch anyway (as are other big birds such as giant petrels). They stay aloft with apparent ease not by some physics-defying tricks or magical theorems, but by impressively fine aerodynamics which, though we poor clumsy landlubbers cannot duplicate them, those whose business it is to understand such things can explain.
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