The sooty shearwater and the passionate photographer are two entirely different species of animal but are actually quite alike in the distances they travel to find what it is they are searching for.

Measuring only 40-50cm in length, the sooty shearwater claims the longest animal migration ever recorded electronically.

As stated in the Science Daily:

Every summer, millions of sooty shearwaters arrive off the coast of California, their huge flocks astonishing visitors who may have trouble grasping that the dark swirling clouds over the water consist of seabirds. Scientists have long known that sooty shearwaters breed in New Zealand and Chile and migrate to feeding grounds in the Northern Hemisphere. But the details of this remarkable transequatorial migration are only now emerging from a study using electronic tracking tags to follow individual birds.

The flights of sooty shearwaters documented in this new study represent the longest animal migration routes ever recorded using electronic tracking technology: around 65,000 kilometers (39,000 miles).

As photographers, we cover great physical and mental distances when making photographs.

Why does such small bird make such an incredible migration?

These small seabirds cross the equator twice a year in pursuit of an endless summer in which their feeding areas are always at or near the period of peak productivity.

If the sooty shearwater migrates 39,000 miles in search of food — specifically fish, squid, and shrimplike krill — then the passionate photographer covers great distances in search of it’s own food — photographs.