Jan. 4, 2006 — Seven yachts competing in the world's toughest ocean race are to set sail from Cape Town this week, entering the backyard of a bird these sailors have sworn to protect.

The second leg of the Volvo Ocean Race, which cast off in Cape Town Monday, will take crews into the hostile southern oceans where they will find solace in the company of one of the ocean's most enigmatic and endangered birds: the albatross.

The bird, which first etched itself into the maritime psyche in Samuel Taylor Coleridge's 1798 poem the "Rime of the Ancient Mariner," is facing an increasingly bleak future.

Their numbers are being decimated by the world's commercial fishing fleet, as tens of thousands are being snared by longline fishing trawlers.

"Albatrosses are dying at a rate of 100,000 per year. That equates to one bird every five minutes," said Cameron Kelleher, media director for the Volvo Ocean Race, which dropped anchor in Cape Town earlier this month.

"Our crews enter the depths of the Southern Ocean, which is basically the albatross' back yard. But these days our sailors report seeing less and less of them," Kelleher told AFP.

The yachting teams have adopted a "Save the Albatross" campaign aimed at getting fishing fleets to implement cheap but effective measures to stop birds from getting hooked by longline fishing.

Baited with thousands of razor-sharp hooks on lines that can extend up to 130 kilometers (80 miles), trawlers tow these lines to catch stocks like tuna and Patagonian toothfish.

Seabirds scavenge behind, getting snagged and drown when they try and take the bait from the lines.

Simple measures could stop the killing, including towing bird-scaring lines (called "tori lines") with ribbons tied to them, using underwater setting tubes that ensure the line stays beneath the surface as soon as it leaves the trawler and tying weights so lines sink quickly.

Fishermen are also urged to dye their bait blue, as it puts birds off from eating it, and fishing at night, when albatrosses don't feed.

When the seven yachts left South Africa on Monday, they entered the second leg of the 32,000-nautical-mile global dash, racing from Cape Town to Melbourne in icy waters thick with danger including icebergs.

The decision to take up the plight of the albatross was an easy one, said Kelleher.

"There are so many similarities between us and these birds. For instance, the migratory pattern of the albatross is the same as the route that we are taking in the southern oceans," he said.

The "Save the Albatross" campaign has garnered a number of high-profile supporters including Britain's Prince Charles and Sir David Attenborough as well as around-the-world solo record sailor Ellen MacArthur.

Kelleher said the ultimate aim of the campaign was to put trainers on board longline fishing trawlers to carry out workshops.