Annals Of Innovation–The Big Bird Race: No, not Kermit’s friend, real Big Birds, which is to say albatrosses. Albatrosses are among the most majestic flyers on the face of the planet, with enormous wingspans and the ability to soar and glide for years at a time without touching land. They are creatures of the frigid skies in the Deep South, and are a favorite of sailors racing across the Southern Ocean. Unfortunately, they are also dying off at a depressing rate, victims of the miles and miles of longline fishing gear floating around in the oceans (the birds go for the bait, get hooked, and drown; and scientists estimate that maybe 300,000 seabirds die this way every year). So, up steps…British bookie Ladbrokes. In conjunction with London’s Conservation Foundation, the green-eyeshade-guys have come up with a very novel stunt to raise money. It’s called The Big Bird Race, and it features eighteen Tasmanian Shy Albatrosses, which were tagged with position beacons and released from three islands off Tasmania, Australia in late April. The birds are migratory and are headed toward South Africa, 6,000 miles away. Like NASCAR racers, each one is sponsored (though without the paint job), in this case by celebs like Queen Noor and former-model (and Mick Jagger wife) Jerry Hall. Ladbrokes is taking wagers on which bird will complete the journey first, and has put tracking maps and all sorts of cool albatross info online. So far $55,000 has been laid down, with all the money going to albatross conservation. According to the New York Times, the first birds are due in this week, and only five remain in the running (some went the wrong way, and some just disappeared, proving that it is, indeed, dangerous to be an albatross). So get your bets down now. “Aphrodite,” Jerry Hall’s entry, is in the lead after briefly being pronounced dead due to what turned out to be a temporary transmitter malfunction. No word yet on what the winner’s cut will be…



All-Out Aphrodite: “Heh-heh. Turning off my beacon really helped me sneak ahead. I just hope they don’t demand a urinalysis after I win this thing…”