This is a trip report for Shearwater Journey's July 31, 2010 pelagic trip departing from Half Moon Bay, California. Our first trip of the fall pelagic season was a tremendous success! Highlights of the day included: 4 COOK'S PETRELS; 2 LAYSAN and 75 BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSSES; 135 PINK-FOOTED and 7 to 10,000 SOOTY SHEARWATERS; 50 ASHY STORM-PETRELS; 2 SOUTH POLAR SKUAS; 2 POMARINE and 45 LONG-TAILED JAEGERS; 15 SABINE'S GULLS; 14 ARCTIC TERNS; 503 COMMON MURRES; 15 PIGEON GUILLEMOTS; 1 MARBLED MURRELET; 301 CASSIN'S and 12 RHINOCEROS AUKLETS and 1 TUFTED PUFFIN. The cetacean show was quite spectacular with lunge feeding BLUE and HUMPBACK WHALES and bow-riding PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED and NORTHERN RIGHT WHALE DOLPHINS.
After a week of flat, calm seas, the wind picked up 48 hours prior to our departure. The shelf waters were quite doable. On the shelf, at about 50 fathoms, we found thousands and thousands of shearwaters, dolphins and whales, feeding on krill. Cassin's Auklets were so stuffed with krill that they could barely get airborne. However, once we dropped off the edge of the Continental Shelf, we were confronted with some large swells. We made it out to the PIONEER CANYON, as deep as 400 fathoms. We found fewer species offshore. The prize was the Cook's Petrels. The first Cook's was spotted by veteran San Mateo County birder, Ron Thorn. It was a life bird, and of course, a county bird for Ron, as well as many others on board! Alas, the Cook's Petrels did not pass close enough to the boat for photographs. The tufted puffin was a fly-by, while the alternate plumaged marbled murrelet was just outside of the harbor.
The steely-blue coloration and tiny dorsal fin of one of six Blue Whales which we saw, feeding on masses of krill on the Continental Shelf. Image by Don Doolittle.
Cook's Petrels have made a big show this year. See Shearwater's Journeys. Given the numbers that were found at the Davidson Seamount by Peter Pyle and Abe Borker, I expect that we will continue finding these petrels on our upcoming trips. Trips that seem especially likely to turn up Cook's Petrels include: August 11 Bodega Bay; August 13 & 15 Fort Bragg; September 11 Monterey; September 13, 17 & 18 Half Moon Bay. Please sign up as soon as possible.
One Laysan Albatross followed our boat for over four hours!
COUNTY BIRDERS had a field day! County birding in California is a growing passion. We spent a fair amount of time in SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY! The following species were seen in both SAN MATEO and SAN FRANCISCO COUNTIES: Cook's Petrel, Laysan and Black-footed Albatrosses; Northern Fulmar; Pink-footed and Sooty Shearwaters; Ashy Storm-Petrel; Red Phalarope; South Polar Skua; Long-tailed Jaeger; Sabine's Gull; Arctic Tern; Common Murre; Cassin's and Rhinoceros Auklets. Found in San Mateo County only: Red-necked Phalarope; Elegant Tern, Marbled Murrelet and Tufted Puffin. Found in San Francisco County only: Pomarine Jaeger. The county birders had a terrific day, adding new species to their lists.
Our route was as plotted, below:
The marine mammal show was simply awesome. Clouds of krill balls reddened the surface. Lunge-feeding blue and humpback whales with their mouths wide open, throat pleats distended were an astounding sight. The dolphins put on a great show! Apparently, the presence of red whale poop was new for some folks, including our skipper. It is red because of the krill that they consume. Three very large OCEAN SUNFISH were a treat, as were a couple of HARBOR PORPOISES and two STELLER'S SEA LIONS.
We thank all of the birders who joined us on our initial fall trip who traveled from near and far, including from Italy, The Netherlands and Switzerland. We also thank Denise Wight and her students. The leaders for this trip were: Peter Pyle, Gerry McChesney, Wes Fritz, Matt Brady and Debi Shearwater.
The complete species list, including the county lists, follows:
SAN MATEO/SAN FRANCISCO
PACIFIC LOON- 1/0
COMMON LOON- 1/0
WESTERN/CLARK'S GREBE- 1/0
LAYSAN ALBATROSS- 1/1
BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 40/35
NORTHERN FULMAR- 25/25
COOK'S PETREL- 2/2
PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 50/85
SOOTY SHEARWATER- 7-10,000/70
ASHY STORM-PETREL- 10/50
BROWN PELICAN- 5/1
BRANDT'S CORMORANT- 5/0
DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT- 1/0
PELAGIC CORMORANT- 1/0
SURF SCOTER- 1/0
WILLET- 10/0
BLACK OYSTERCATCHER- 3/0
BLACK TURNSTONE- 8/0
SURFBIRD- 12/0
BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON- 1/0
RED-NECKED PHALAROPE- 50
RED PHALAROPE- 28/2
SOUTH POLAR SKUA- 1/1
POMARINE JAEGER- 0/2
LONG-TAILED JAEGER- 15/30
HEERMANN'S GULL- 180/1
CALIFORNIA GULL- 200/40
WESTERN GULL- 300/100
SABINE'S GULL- 6/8
ELEGANT TERN- 1/0
ARCTIC TERN- 4/10
COMMON MURRE- 500/3
PIGEON GUILLEMOT- 15/0
MARBLED MURRELET- 1/0
CASSIN'S AUKLET- 300/1
RHINOCEROS AUKLET- 10/2
TUFTED PUFFIN- 1/0
CALIFORNIA SEA LION- 15
STELLER'S SEA LION- 2
HARBOR SEAL- 1
BLUE WHALE- 6, including one very small one
HUMPBACK WHALE- 24
NORTHERN RIGHT WHALE DOLPHIN- 50
PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHIN- 150
HARBOR PORPOISE- 2
OCEAN SUNFISH- 3 very large, + 2 small
Nothing like starting off the fall pelagic season with a big bang! Jump on board, before the trip that you want is sold out.
Shearwaters forever,
Debi Shearwater
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