Natl Geo: Bird Flies 40,000 Miles a Year

You think your commute is bad? Check out the Sooty Shearwater in this National Geographic article, Longest Animal Migration Measured, Bird Flies 40,000 Miles a Year:

Sooty shearwaters migrate nearly 40,000 miles (64,000 kilometers) a year, flying from New Zealand to the North Pacific Ocean every summer in search of food, according to a new study.

The extensive summer trek is the longest animal migration ever recorded electronically.

“It was really amazing to see the distance they were traveling,” said Scott Shaffer, a research biologist at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

I would have expected him to add “And boy are my arms tired.” ;)