The Fledgling's Flight

Albatross is an amazing seabird. Its wingspan can reach 12 feet, can fly hundreds of miles a day, leveraging the air currents and minimally using its own energy, can dive into water to the depth of 5 meters of more to catch fish streamlining its body better than an Olympic diving champion, and can fly for more than six years without ever touching ground (meaning it even catches sleep in flight). We human beings marvel at it dynamic soaring and the fact that each albatross will make multiple around-the-world trips in its lifetime!

Yet, this great evolution of nature faces its gravest danger in the very first flight it takes!

Albatross lays eggs on isolated islands in the southern seas such as those around New Zealand, Hawaii, and on the eastern coast of Africa. Their parents protect and feed them for 18-36 weeks and the chicks are generally safe and well-fed during this period due to their parents’ attention and the isolated locales with fewer predators. Somewhere between 18 and 36 weeks of hatching, the parents realize two things – one, they need to feed themselves before they starve to death and two, the time has come for the chick to take flight and write its own life story.

Unlike other birds or animals, in the Albatross family, the chicks don’t leave home but the parents do. Apparently, there are no emotional good-byes and hugs, they just fly away one fine morning. The clueless and hungry chick screams it head off for some time but soon realizes it needs to take charge of its life. Its wingspan is six feet or more by now and is perfectly capable of flying but has never flown thus far, probably never even thought about flying as food was regurgitated by its parents into its mouth since birth. And the trauma of the first flight hits home! It flutters its wings, tries to float a bit, sways from side to side uncontrolled, crashes to the ground, cowers, withdraws, and then tries again and again and again and voila, it is suddenly airborne!

Natural instincts take it to the sea, and it is soon over the waves. The fledgling is still unsure of where it needs to go, or what is a safe zone to fly in or to, and perhaps most importantly, is unprepared for the buffeting forces of gravity and wind that test its ability to stay afloat. Some are overcome by fear or run out of gas and crash into the sea. In theory, that should not be a problem for this amphibious creature except that the sharks have been watching this drama unfold for hundreds of thousands of years and have gathered in the shallows to receive this manna from the heavens that is going to fall in their mouths.

Some fledglings have the resolve and the strength not to hit the water and will go on explore the seas and skies for years. Some others will crash into the sea but instinctively realize they are amphibious and quickly take off again before a predator grabs it, still others may be grabbed by a shark but struggle ferociously to escape the jaw and succeed. All of them will perform an amazing feat of transforming from a chick into an adult in flight!

But some will bob about in a confused manner, or not fight hard enough and the sharks are eager to oblige.

Dedicated to all my startup founding friends!