Windows Server 2008: The Definitive Guide

By Jonathan Hassell
Price: $54.99 USD
£34.50 GBP

Cover | Table of Contents | Colophon

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Colophon

The animal on the cover of Windows Server 2008: The Definitive Guide is an albatross (Diomedeidae). Albatrosses are among the largest of the seabirds; the wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans) weighs up to 20 pounds and has a wingspan of almost 12 feet. Widely considered the most majestic of Antarctic birds, albatrosses have long, narrow wings and large heads with distinctive hooked bills. Though their coloring varies somewhat depending on species, albatrosses are typically white with gray, brown, or black accents.



Albatrosses are highly efficient gliders, effortlessly covering thousands of miles in a
day as they forage for fish, squid, and krill. In fact, one grey-headed albatross
(Diomedea chrysostoma) is on record as circumnavigating Antarctica in just 46 days. An albatross's wings have the unique ability to "lock" into an extended position, thereby reducing the strain of such long-distance travels. Albatrosses are best observed during rough weather, when high waves create powerful uplifting air
currents that enable them to remain aloft with hardly a wing beat for several hours.
Wandering albatrosses are known to follow visiting ships in the Southern Ocean,
and indeed they have a long history with seafarers. In folklore, they were thought to carry the souls of dead mariners; should a sailor kill the bird, bad luck would fall
upon him for the rest of his natural life.



Many albatross species are currently threatened. Biologists report that almost
100,000 of the birds are killed every year by fishing fleets, many of which are illegal.
Wandering albatrosses get caught on baited long-line hooks set by tuna fisherman,
and are pulled under the water and drowned. Fatal collisions with trawl net cables
are also a factor in their steadily dwindling numbers. Governments, conservationists,
and the fishing industry have worked together to develop solutions to combat
this problem, such as weighted lines that sink quickly and are thus less visible to
albatrosses, or brightly colored "tori" lines that startle the birds away from the
vessels.

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