the.com/gannet
a feathered missile that hits the sea at 60 mph and survives by having airbags in its face
means A large white seabird of the family Sulidae that plunge-dives spectacularly for fish, and — by extension — a person of voracious, indiscriminate appetite.
from From an Old English word 'ganot' for this seabird, related to 'gander' and 'goose' — all part of a Germanic family of names for big web-footed waterfowl, possibly rooted in a sense of 'gaping' or 'open-mouthed.' The slang for a greedy eater is much later, born of watching the bird gulp down everything in sight.
- dive speed
- plunges from 100 feet at 60 mph
- face airbags
- air sacs cushion the brutal impact
- no nostrils
- external nostrils sealed to stop water blasting in
- loyal lovers
- pairs reunite at the same nest yearly
- glutton's name
- greedy eaters are called gannets for good reason
northern gannet — seabird that dives from up to 100 feet high off the coasts of the north atlantic
australasian gannet — species found around new zealand and australia, breeds at cape kidnappers
masked booby — gannet species of tropical oceans, nests in the caribbean and pacific