Súlukongur
Súlukongur [ sʉulʊˌkɔŋgʊɹ ] ( Faroese : "King of the Gannets " - Sula = gannets; Kongur = king) is now the Faroese name for the Black- ( Thalassarche melanophris ). The name comes from a single albatross female that lived on Mykines from 1860 to 1894 and moved with the gannets. It was the only albatross ever to be sighted in the Faroe Islands .
The albatross was first observed in April or May 1860 at Mykineshólmur , where the northern gannet's only breeding site is in the Faroe Islands. Like this, the albatross only stayed at this particular bird rock. When they moved south in the autumn, he flew with them, and when they came back in the spring, the Súlakongur was there too .
It is assumed that it was always the same individual for the entire 34 years, since no other albatross was observed at the same time. It could not be determined whether the Súlakongur also participated in the breeding business of the northern gannet. However, in 1891 a gannet cub was seen that was lighter gray than normal gannets and had a beak that resembled that of the albatross.
Likewise, the locals could not find out what the bird fed on, which supposedly never gave a scream, but was always mute. He was neither observed swimming on the water nor diving. However, it is said to have only ever flown out to sea, never inland.
Finally, on May 11, 1894, the Súlukongur was shot. Attempts had previously been made to catch him alive, but they never succeeded. Only then did it emerge that it was not a gannet, but actually an albatross. The people of Mykines always thought it was a strange subspecies of the gannet, especially since they had never seen an albatross. The shooter was Johannes Frederik Joensen, the father of the later famous painter Sámal Joensen-Mikines .
