TRIP REPORT: AUGUST 3, 2012 MONTEREY BAY

 BAM, BAM, BAM!

MONTEREY SEABIRDS!

Howdy, Seabirders,

This is a trip report for Shearwater Journeys' pelagic trip departing from Monterey Bay, August 3, 2012. In rapid fire succession, like lightning and thunder, one seabird after another presented itself — POMARINE JAEGERS chasing ELEGANT TERNS and PIGEON GUILLEMOTS scooting away along Cannery Row; SOOTY SHEARWATERS just off Pacific Grove; BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS, PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATERS and SABINE'S GULLS flying into the stern before we even made it to Point Pinos; RED and RED-NECKED PHALAROPES just outside the kelp beds; COMMON MURRE dads with their chicks; RHINOCEROS AUKLET and the first ASHY STORM-PETRELS— almost all of the species we would encounter for the day were seen prior to 9 am!! It's all about FOOD. In the above image, have a look at the thick, red lines in the lower half of the fish finder. This is food— loads of spawning squid are being encountered nearshore. RISSO'S DOLPHINS, large, grey squid feeding dolphins were up next! A few PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHINS with tiny calves were part of this large herd. Sea surface temperatures nearshore were 55 F. 

I subscribe to a service, Terrafin, which gives sea surface charts, showing temperatures along with undersea contours. This is extremely valuable information. Fog can making readings obscure. So, the latest reading I could obtain was for July 31. It showed a giant plume of very warm water approaching Monterey Bay. Our captain, Tinker, informed me that the warm water was only 10 miles offshore. However, once on board, we received a call that the warm water was now only 5 miles offshore! We were on our way! Just how warm was it? Well, we went from 55 F to 59.8 F in a very short distance. This just about constitutes what fishermen call, "a hard edge," meaning that the temperature gradient occurs in a very short distance. Furthermore, all of those fishing boats in the parking lot had me curious. I knew it was a good salmon fishing season, but these guys were out for ALBACORE!! Yes, indeed, before the day's end, we would see "jumpers" albacore tuna, jumping to catch bait fish. And, where you have bait fish, you have even tinier fish that the bait fish eat. If the water is also crystal, clear deep blue (as opposed to the nearshore green water)— then, it's bingo— time for murrelets! Exactly where we saw albacore jumping, we also saw SCRIPPS'S MURRELETS! In the above image of the fish finder, the large, red blobs on the right side of the screen are albacore. BTW, albacore are always caught with a hook and line, one single fish at a time. That's why albacore tuna costs more in the supermarket. It is not caught in large purse seine nets which kills other wildlife, including dolphins.

To be sure, this had to be one of the most exciting early August trips that I've ever done. But, the real kicker was the STORM-PETRELS. As we headed offshore, we left behind nearly all of the albatross and shearwaters. The ocean appeared to be barren. Then, we saw a few ASHY STORM-PETRELS. Soon, a number of "white-rumped" storm-petrels were in view. When I finally got a good look at one, it was a LEACH'S STORM-PETREL. Although Leach's storm-petrels are common offshore during summer, we're talking offshore— meaning, 50-100 miles offshore! We were only 15 to 18 miles offshore. Soon, it became apparent that a great many Leach's storm-petrels were around us! And, as we headed southward toward the Davidson Seamount, although admittedly some 50 miles away, we encountered actual FLOCKS OF LEACH'S STORM-PETRELS! Spotting one small flock, sitting on the water, I was able to slow the boat while everyone on board (which was not many) crowded in the bow. On the water sat half a dozen Leach's along with two BLACK STORM-PETRELS! Great views and comparison. It doesn't get a whole lot better than that. We really don't know just how many Leach's storm-petrels we saw. I reckon well over 50 individuals, but there could well have been hundreds of them. They ranged from bright white rumps to intermediate, to some dark-rumped individuals. Some of the photographers may have distant images. If so, I'll post them in a future blog. In 36 years of fall pelagic trips, this is the highest count of Leach's storm-petrels I've ever encountered on a nearshore pelagic trip. The "tail" of the warm water plume is centered over the southern edge of the Davidson Seamount, a place where I ran trips decades ago when fuel was much cheaper. And, that tail is a whopping 62 F! I'm sure that if we could get there today, we'd see Cook's Petrels and Red-billed Tropicbirds. In any case, this warm water will be on the move over the next few days. There seems to be a "relaxation" period of the seas at this time. So, the warm water might remain stationary over the next several days. For local birders and, especially county birders seeking to add Leach's storm-petrels to their lists, this Friday's trip from Monterey, August 10, might be a great option.

The "take home" lesson is that food is not evenly distributed at sea. It is found in patches. And, those patches will be the place to look for feeding seabirds. We certainly had ample evidence of that on this day!

The SABINE'S GULLS just kept on cruising by while PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATERS and BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS flew into the wake, much to the delight of Paul Dodd and Ruth Woodrow from Australia. Along with others, Paul organizes pelagic trips from the Melbourne area.

Christian Haass from Germany having a good time, photographing seabirds. His brother, Nikolas Haass, was a guest leader with Shearwater Journeys. Lots of international connections on this day.

 Two happy chummers, tossing anchovies.

Many thanks to all of the birders who traveled from near and far, Switzerland, Germany, Australia. The leaders for this trip were; Clay Kempf, Jennifer Green and Debi Shearwater. 

The complete species list follows. All birds were in MONTEREY COUNTY.

AUGUST 3, 2012

BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 23

PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 37

SOOTY SHEARWATER- 185

*LEACH'S STORM-PETREL- 55+

ASHY STORM-PETREL- 85

BLACK STORM-PETREL- 4

BROWN PELICAN- 200, one dead at the Coast Guard breakwater; many seemingly not waterproof

BRANDT'S CORMORANT- +

PELAGIC CORMORANT- 2

BLACK TURNSTONE- 1

SURFBIRD- 4

RED-NECKED PHALAROPE- 45

RED-NECKED/RED PHALAROPE- 40

RED PHALAROPE- 105

POMARINE JAEGER- 25

PARASITIC JAEGER- 1

HEERMANN'S GULL- +

CALIFORNIA GULL- 6

WESTERN GULL- +

SABINE'S GULL- 47

ELEGANT TERN- 67

ARCTIC TERN- 6 (4 adults, 2 first summer)

COMMON MURRE- 173

PIGEON GUILLEMOT- 23

SCRIPPS'S MURRELET- 2

MURRELET SP.- 1

CASSIN'S AUKLET- 11

RHINOCEROS AUKLET- 6

SEA OTTER- 12

CALIFORNIA SEA LION- +

HARBOR SEAL- +

HUMPBACK WHALE- 1, tail slapping

RISSO'S DOLPHIN- 180, with calves

PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHIN- 70

OCEAN SUNFISH- 2

Jump on board our next trips from Monterey: August 10 & 17!

Shearwaters forever,

Debi Shearwater