“No two seasons are ever the same,” says Isobel Burns, in her 14th season of work at the Taiaroa Head southern royal albatross colony. “So far this season [late October 2000] 66 birds have arrived, but not all of these are breeding birds. Some are juveniles that return to the colony for a few years before settling down to breed. If we are lucky, 22 pairs may attempt to lay this year.”