The chick, the first to hatch last season, flew off the headland on Sunday just as the wind dropped, Royal Albatross Centre manager Mark Jurisich said.
Not knowing how to stay in the air, the chick headed south towards Dunedin instead of out to sea, then crash landed in the middle of the main shipping lane in Otago Harbour.
Otago Peninsula resident David Taiaroa and his partner, Sarah Valk, saw the chick in the water near Otakou and drove to the Royal Albatross Centre to raise the alarm.
"It was sitting out on the water, flapping its wings, and couldn't get back up," Ms Valk said.
Mr Jurisich contacted Department of Conservation officer Colin Facer, who was off duty at the time, and they launched a rescue operation. The chick had drifted up the harbour with the tide past the Otakou wharf.
"Within an hour, they had plucked the chick from the harbour, dried it off, tucked it into the front seat of David's car on Colin's lap and returned it to the headland.
Mr Facer checked the young albatross over and all was well, so the chick was put back on its nest.
The chick was still sitting on its nest yesterday.
Doc Taiaroa Head ranger Lyndon Perriman said four or five albatross chicks had already left the colony and he expected this albatross to be next if the winds steadied out.
The chicks needed a steady breeze of about 20 knots to 30 knots to successfully fly away.
It was not unheard of for chicks to become disoriented and end up in the harbour, especially if fog surrounded the headland.
"It's good the locals are keeping an eye out," Mr Perriman said.
"Albatross can't feed in the harbour and if they're tumbled against the waves and rock walls it ruins their feathers, and that's the end of them."
