Jerry Hall's albatross wins race

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, July 13 (UPI) -- Aphrodite, an albatross sponsored by Texas model Jerry Hall, has won the 6,000 mile Big Bird Race in South Africa, hellomagazine.com reported Tuesday.

Aphrodite was reported missing about midway through the 6,000-mile journey, and was even feared dead at one point.

"When Aphrodite disappeared in the middle on the Indian Ocean, I thought her chances of winning were dashed," Hall said. "But when her satellite tracking device came back online off the South African coast I was delighted. Now that she has been declared the winner, I am over the moon."

Eighteen albatrosses left Australia April 27 to publicize how tens of thousands of the giant birds are lost each year to substandard or illegal fishing practices. The signals from all but three of the birds have since been lost.