ABSTRACT
The thirteen species of albatross are pelagic birds of the S oceans and N Pacific. Seven are known from Afrotropical waters. One is recorded off the Kenya coast as a vagrant but, it may well be commoner than this and other species can be expected. Due to the cost of boat hire, pelagic birdwatching off Kenya is an expensive exercise and, in addition to this, it is not uncommon to find little of interest in the course of a day's search. Immatures off Shimoni 114C on 12 Sept and 10 Oct were either this species or the Grey-headed Albatross D. chrysostoma which is, however, rare N of 35°S. Other records of small albatrosses may refer to this species or possibly to the Yellow-nosed Albatross D. chlororhynchos, which also occurs in the S Indian Ocean and which is the commonest albatross off SE Africa from May to Sept.
