Behind the scenes: Flying a drone like albatross | Incredible Animal Journeys | National Geographic

Good morning on board the Explorer and greetings from the mud room.

They say that size doesn't matter. Taking enough in three, two, one—here we [Music] go! But in this case, it kind of does. One of the ways we're reducing risk when flying drones like this is to make sure we have a wide, stable platform, and that's why we're on this big boat right now.

Big ship! The captain's going to kill [Music] me! Land this 370 ft expedition ship is home for the next month. How are you doing? Yo, 'cause do you know how big they are? They're like the Boeing 737 of the planet Earth. If you want to know how to fly like an albatross, they have one very nice trick that will lock their wings. Ask an ornithologist.

So, if you imitate me, so another footish, it will be that big. Can you imagine a bird this size? It’s the biggest on the planet Earth! Wow! Javier's traveled the world studying birds. Oh my goodness, but he's never flown like one. Let's go for it!

Okay, hey! Taking off. All right, there we go! Oh [Music] my, this is like Star Wars but not. Oh my, I don't know how Rafa doesn't get sick with this. Oh, oh my, that's spooky! [Music]

So how does that look to you? It looks good, but the only one thing is that the wandering albatross are much, much bigger. They go slower when they do the turns. Yeah, you have to think like an albatross—just think like an albatross! Feel the wind! Yes, feel the wind!

Okay, all right, all right! But to do that, you need the right conditions. Good morning! Just going to see what the weather's doing, and it's another very beautiful but flat calm day for the Southern Ocean. No big waves—not yet. What we're really after is big wave, giant well, so we can feel the power of the ocean and fly within it. Pretty much, it’s pretty calm.

[Music] Again, compared to most people on the ship, we've got to be the only two wishing for bigger seas. Sometimes wishes do come true! We just woke up to some raw four seas, which is what we want!

Like, look at that! Look at that! It's going to be [Music] great! At last, Rafa can flex his wings. Basically, just practicing the moves, filling out the waves. Wow! And we can ride the wind like an albatross. [Music] [Music]

These aerial giants can travel 70,000 miles in a year. [Music]