Love story of same-sex albatrosses

Frozen Planet II introduced the audience to the 14-year-old male Antipodean albatross looking for love. 

The love of same-sex albatrosses warms hearts in the icy subantarctic waters of southern New Zealand. 

On Sunday, the BBC's popular wildlife series Frozen Planet II took viewers to the remote Antipodes Islands, a small volcanic chain 800 miles southwest of New Zealand, where host David Attenborough introduced viewers to the 14-year-old male Antipodean albatross looking for love.

Male albatrosses, one of the large albatrosses of the genus Diomedea, reach approximately four meters in length and a wingspan of almost ten meters. They usually live 50 years. With their pink beak, pink broad-winged feet, and small black eyes, these birds are adorable even before their mating ritual begins.

“In the spring,” Attenborough says, “longer days turn every piece of land into a potential breeding ground.” 

We meet the 14-year-old as he addresses a female who is flying and lands a few meters away. “It seems to be working,” Attenborough says.

“The finale is the big decider: synchronized flapping,” he continues, but then another male appears, sneaking up and unfolding his own wide wings to a frenzied scream.

“It seems,” says Attenborough, “that this won't be his year.” 

But he catches the small round eyes of another albatross, which flies off and lands for a closer look. The show continues.

“But this is actually another male.”

That doesn't matter at all, and the bird "continues to show its suitability." The couple cross the pink hills and gaze lovingly into each other's little eyes. The music is rising.

“This could still be the one he will share the rest of his life with.”

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