15 of the world’s 22 albatross species are endangered. Swordfish, tuna and other fishing fleets are killing more than 100,000 albatrosses every year.

Wandering albatrosses can gorge themselves so much on ship garbage that they become unable to fly and must float on the water to recover.

A single wandering albatross can fly the equivalent of 10 times to the moon and back over their lifetime.

Albatrosses have the longest wingspan of any bird.
As adults they spend years out on the open ocean, flying for thousands of miles. They can cover almost 1,000km a day without flapping their wings, and have been known to travel 16,000km in a single foraging trip.
They commonly mate for life, although divorce amongst albatrosses is becoming increasingly common, possibly due to climate change.

The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny) said: The person who marries gains half of his Faith, then he must fear of Allah for the next remaining half.

Imam al-Sadiq (PBUH) said: Once a man came to my father. He (PBUH) asked him whether he had a wife and he answered he had not. Then, my father said that he would not like to possess the world and what it includes but sleep one night without having a wife. Then he added that the two rakat prayer established by a married man is worthier than that an unmarried man keeps vigil at night praying and fasts during the day. After that, he gave him seven golden coins (Dinar) and told him to marry.

Albatrosses are faithful birds, returning to the same remote outcrop year after year to breed with the same partner. These behemoths of the bird world use their long wingspan to glide on the ocean winds, travelling thousands of miles without ever seeing land. In fact, albatrosses can fly nearly 5 million miles – 10 times to the moon and back – during their lifetime. However, the numbers of these long-lived creatures are rapidly dwindling due to fishing practices and climate change.

The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny) said: The sleep of a married person is better with Allah than an unmarried one who fasts during the day and keeps vigil at night, establishing prayers.

This mysterious shark is not often seen by cameras: The first photograph of a live Greenland shark wasn’t taken until 1995.

Some have speculated that Greenland shark sightings could be behind the Loch Ness monster myth.

A Greenland shark was spotted off the coast of Belize in spring 2022, raising the possibility the sharks are more widespread than previously thought.

The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny) said: A two rakat prayer that a married person establishes is worthier than when a bachelor keeps up prayers at nights and fasts during the days.

Humans do pose a threat to Greenland sharks: The International Union for the Conservation of Nature lists the Greenland shark as vulnerable to extinction. The animal’s slow growth rate, late maturity, and low reproduction rate make it vulnerable to threats such as fishing, pollution, and climate change. Until the 1960s they were hunted for the oil in their livers, which was used as industrial lubricant or for lamp oil.

There’s no proof of Greenland sharks attacking humans: An 1859 report of a Greenland shark found with a human leg in its stomach was never corroborated. However, the animal’s flesh is poisonous; eating it can cause diarrhea, vomiting, stumbling, and convulsions, also known as getting “shark drunk.”

Arctic Greenland sharks often have poor vision because of a parasite called Ommatokoita elongata. This tiny crustacean latches onto the shark’s eye, damaging the cornea and leaving scar tissue with each infection. The shark is not debilitated by its blindness as it relies heavily on other senses in its dark habitat far beneath the ice.

The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny) said: Yes, the reward of a woman during her pregnancy until childbirth, and unto when she weans the child, is like that of a stationed (soldier guarding the Muslims borders against the attack of pagan enemies) for the sake of Allah. So, if she dies during that, she will have the rank of a martyr.