oh really? so either the fact that they can survive nuclear bombs is flawed...or my head hurts...
not to mention I'd be dead...
Radiation isn't always physically 'hot'. You can die of rad and not change your body temperature by even one whole degree.
Oil coats what it hits, burning as it goes. Much worse than a simple explosion. In water, it's even worse, because water SCATTERS the oil, spreading the fire. The only way to not burn is to get AWAY from the oil, FAST.
Albatrosses DO need a lot of space for takeoff, but only from flat land. If you are elevated [ship's bridge or crow's nest], you just jump off. If you have heat, you use it for updrafts. Really, jumping off the edge of an oil tanker, roughly thirty feet above the water, is more than enough.
Terns, petrels, and shearwaters take off almost straight up, and ducks DO take off straight up. All are good travelers and swimmers.
Still, albatross is best, in my opinion. You could make the round trip from the Caribbean to the NYC in a matter of an hour and a half, no lie. Plenty of time to demorph in the same trip, without stopping. NICE.