Albatrosses only ever lay a single egg, and the aim of Burns and her co-workers is to get as many chicks fledged each year as possible. Twelve is the highest number the colony has produced, and in each of the last few years 10 chicks fledged. There are many pitfalls on the path to breeding success. Some eggs are infertile, others break. Flies, predators, bad weather and disease also claim young birds. Sometimes a parent disappears and its chick starves.