Seabirding does not get any finer than yesterday's trip on Monterey Bay. Glassy-smooth seas throughout the day, a constant flow of seabirds, and hundreds of dolphins and sunshine in the afternoon— we had it all. The show of SABINE'S GULLS, ASHY STORM-PETRELS, and two different TUFTED PUFFINS were the highlights of a pleasant day. As Pete Dunne once described his days on Monterey Bay with me, it was "quite civilized seabirding."
Things have changed in Monterey Bay over the past four weeks. Where warm water was once well inside the bay, it has now been replaced by very cold water ranging from 53-55F. The warm water is now almost 50 miles off Monterey. It is very warm— 60-65F. This presents a great temperature break, although it is not within reach of standard 7 am to 3 pm trip. (We will shoot for it this Saturday on our 12 hour Albacore trip). The cold water has attracted hundreds of CASSIN'S AUKLETS, as well as hundreds of RED and RED-NECKED PHALAROPES. The upwelling has produced krill, which has also attracted BLUE WHALES. Both Cassin's Auklets and Blue Whales feed on krill. Sightings of these three species have been very slim the past three years. This is a great sign. Krill is the keystone species in our nutrient-rich canyons. Flocks of 15- 30 SABINE'S GULLS were sitting on the water, making a beautiful display as they took to flight. Fewer BULLER'S SHEARWATERS are around. I suspect that most of them are out at the temperature break along the warm water edge. I hope to find out on Saturday's trip. Even the Davidson Seamount has a sea surface temperature break right now. Ten degrees is a significant temperature break!
We headed north to the canyons off Davenport, where we found the storm-petrels milling around, as though they were feeding which they sometimes do on overcast days. A TUFTED PUFFIN was found, both on our way out and our return to the harbor. Close views allowed us to determine that they are definitely two different birds. Feeding HUMPBACK WHALES surrounded by feeding PINK-FOOTED and SOOTY SHEARWATERS gave a good show in the morning. NORTHERN RIGHT WHALE DOLPHINS and PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHINS in scattered subgroups, leaping and breezing across the water, and bow riding for several hours spent the afternoon with us. HARBOR PORPOISE have been hanging around the coast of Pacific Grove, while DALL'S PORPOISE were offshore. Fewer jaegers were found, but we did manage a clean sweep of all three species, including SOUTH POLAR SKUA. All in all, it was simply a delightful day.
Many thanks to our participants who came from seven states, Canada, and the UK. Leaders on this trip were: Don Doolittle and John Sterling who are leading on our charter Antarctica voyage in January 2010; Ted Chandik who has been leading with Shearwater Journeys for over three decades; and Abe Borker who has been leading with Shearwater Journeys for three weeks! And, of course, I was there. The complete species list follows.
Spaces are still available on the following Monterey trips:
SEPTEMBER 11, 12, 24, 25, 26, 27
OCTOBER 3, 4, 10, 11, 25
NOVEMBER 28
Reservations: Please contact me by email: debi@shearwaterjourneys.com
SPECIES LIST FOR SEPTEMBER 9, 2009 MONTEREY BAY
PACIFIC LOON- 1
BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 12
NORTHERN FULMAR- 18
PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 150
BULLER'S SHEARWATER- 7
SOOTY SHEARWATER- 200
WILSON'S STORM-PETREL- 1
ASHY STORM-PETREL- 600 (in Santa Cruz County)
BROWN PELICAN- 20
BRANDT'S CORMORANT- 280
PELAGIC CORMORANT- 3
BLACK TURNSTONE- 5 + 1 offshore
RED-NECKED PHALAROPE- 500
RED PHALAROPE- 28
SOUTH POLAR SKUA- 1
POMARINE JAEGER- 15
POMARINE/PARASITIC- 2
PARASITIC JAEGER- 2
PARASITIC/LONG-TAILED- 1
LONG-TAILED JAEGER- 1
HEERMANN'S GULL- +
CALIFORNIA GULL- +
WESTERN GULL- +
SABINE'S GULL- 195
ELEGANT TERN- 100, mostly over the kelp beds off Point Pinos
COMMON TERN- 4
COMMON/ARCTIC TER- 2
ARCTIC TERN- 5
COMMON MURRE- 30
PIGEON GUILLEMOT- 8
CASSIN'S AUKLET- 800
RHINOCEROS AUKLET- 111
TUFTED PUFFIN- 2
PEREGRINE FALCON- 1, on the radio tower along Cannery Row
SEA OTTER- 12
CALIFORNIA SEA LION- +
STELLER'S SEA LION- 1
NORTHERN ELEPHANT SEAL- 2
HARBOR SEAL- +
HUMPBACK WHALE- 4
NORTHERN RIGHT WHALE DOLPHIN- 300+
PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHIN- 400+
HARBOR PORPOISE- 3
DALL'S PORPOISE- 3
OCEAN SUNFISH- 1
BLUE SHARK- 2
Shearwaters forever,
Debi
Debra Shearwater
Shearwater Journeys, Inc.
PO Box 190
Hollister, CA 95024
831.637.8527
**Antarctica, South Georgia, & The Falkland Islands, January 5-24, 2010*
Shearwater Journeys' Exclusive Charter
Waiting list available
No comments:
Post a Comment