THE BEST JAEGER SCHOOL
64 JAEGERS & 2 SOUTH POLAR SKUAS, Oh My!
OUR 2015 ALBACORE TRIP SEPT. 12
Monterey seabirds and marine mammals delighted and thrilled folks on the Shearwater Journeys' offshore albacore trip on September 13, 2014. Because the marine forecast was excellent, we headed south toward the Sur Canyon area. Highlights were non-stop: BROWN BOOBY, MANX SHEARWATER, SCRIPPS'S MURRELETS, SABINE'S GULLS, ARCTIC TERNS, BLUE WHALES, BAIRDS' BEAKED WHALES, GRAND SLAM on the JAEGERS: POMARINE, PARASITIC, and LONG-TAILED putting on an amazing show to the delight of all! The albacore trip is a specialty trip, being 12 hours long, as compared to the classic trip which is 7.5 hours long. IF you can only make one trip in Monterey, make it this one! Shearwater Journeys is the only company that offers this trip.
At daybreak, already many miles offshore, the first bird was a RED-NECKED PHALAROPE, above.
It was also the last seabird of the day when we returned to the dock!
It was also the last seabird of the day when we returned to the dock!
LONG-TAILED JAEGER, above, is often a very difficult to find nearshore, and even more difficult to photograph. Read on!
The best reading from Terrafin, a service I subscribe to that provides SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURES, above, was a blended map due to fog. The warm water 'blob' was present everywhere. This is not necessarily good for birding. Finding the edges of where cooler water meets the warmer water is important for seabirding.
Storm-petrels have been largely absent all fall, probably feeding at some extremely distant location not reached by daily pelagic trips. However, this BLACK STORM-PETREL, above offered some nice views. A handful of endangered ASHY STORM-PETRELS allowed for flight comparisons.
One indication of exactly how flat-calm the seas were is the number of NORTHERN FUR SEALS that were observed (8). This fur seal is resting in what is called, "the jug handle position," locking its hind flipper with its fore flipper.
A handful of LONG-BEAKED COMMON DOLPHINS entertained us. This species is usually associated with offshore warm water.
We were definitely very lucky to find two BLUE WHALES because all of the blue whales along the nearshore of the central coast of California departed about July 10th, when the krill disappeared! Blue whales are the largest animals to have ever lived on Earth, larger than any of the dinosaurs. It is difficult to grasp their size most of the time — three school buses long! Above, Beth Hamel beautifully captures the steely-blue colored flank and small dorsal fin.
The blow of a BLUE WHALE shoots some 30 feet high in the sky!
I once saw a peregrine falcon flying through the blow of a blue whale!
Some 29 miles offshore, a BROWN BOOBY made a pass at our stern!
This fall brown boobies staged a major invasion along the coast with many reports continuing into winter/spring 2015.
Remarkably, only one BULLER'S SHEARWATER was found. Typically, we find hundreds on the albacore trip. The masses of them must have been feeding at a temperature break that we could not reach on a one day trip. Still, one is better than none!
And the chase is on. And, on. And on!
The word "jaeger" is of German origin, meaning "hunter."
We certainly did see a lot of them hunting!
The larger jaegers, pomarines, especially, seem to chase SABINE'S GULLS.
LONG-TAILED JAEGER, below.
Long-tailed Jaegers often chase ARCTIC TERNS, below.
LONG-TAILED JAEGER, subadult, above.
Sub-adult PARASITIC JAEGER, above.
POMARINE JAEGER, adult male, above.
Males are smaller than females.
A number of low, bushy blows are spied, and I'm sure we have BAIRD'S BEAKED WHALES!
This is a major specialty of trips that venture far offshore!
In the images, above and below, Beth Hamel captures the "beaks" of these whales.
Like all odontocetes, these toothed whales have a single blowhole, visible in the image, below.
Females can reach 40 feet in length. Army brown in coloration, they show many scars.
BAIRD'S BEAKED WHALES, Berardius bairdii, travel in tight groups, blowing and diving synchronously, and often touching each other with their beaks.
They could be capable of diving deeper than 9000 feet.
They eat squid and deep dwelling fish. Indeed, we came across the remains of their food which was being consumed by BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSSES, in the image, below!
Nearly a constant companion, PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATERS often follow in the wake of our vessel.
A Grand Prize of any albacore trip is murrelets, especially sitting on the water for great views!
This SCRIPPS'S MURRELET was one of two that were positively identified.
It has been a big fall for the BY-THE-WIND-SAILORS, Velella velella, above.
Many thanks to the wonderful group of birders who joined us on this day who hailed from England, Texas, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Washington, Georgia, Minnesota, and California. It was a gorgeous day at sea. Leading this offshore trip were: Scott Terrill, Linda Terrill, Jennifer Green, and Debi Shearwater.
The complete species list follows. All records are for Monterey County. SST's ranged from 63F to 60-59F. Beaufort .5 to 1.5, glassy seas, excellent conditions. We went south to the "weenie."
13 SEPTEMBER 2014 MONTEREY BAY OFFSHORE TRIP TO THE ALBACORE GROUNDS
BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 25
PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 430
FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 1 (only seen by two birders)S
BULLER'S SHEARWATER- 1
SOOTY SHEARWATER- 970
*MANX SHEARWATER- 1 (photos)
BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATER- 218
ASHY STORM-PETREL- 5
BLACK STORM-PETREL- 13
*BROWN BOOBY- 1 29 miles offshore; SST 60.8F
BROWN PELICAN- 40
BRANDT'S CORMORANT- 40
PELAGIC CORMORANT- 8
RED-NECKED PHALAROPE- 180
RED PHALAROPE- 4
SOUTH POLAR SKUA- 2
POMARINE JAEGER- 12
POMARINE/PARASITIC JAEGER- 2
PARASITIC JAEGER- 12
PARASITIC/LONG-TAILED JAEGER- 2
LONG-TAILED JAEGER- 36
HEERMANN'S GULL- 40
CALIFORNIA GULL- 90
WESTERN GULL- 225
ELEGANT TERN- 17
COMMON TERN- 12
COMMON/ARCTIC TERN- 4
ARCTIC TERN- 11
FORSTER'S TERN- 1
COMMON MURRE- 66
*SCRIPPS'S MURRELET- 2; SST 63.8F
CASSIN'S AUKLET- 11
RHINOCEROS AUKLET- 15
MURRELET SP.- 4
CALIFORNIA SEA LION- +
NORTHERN FUR SEAL- 8
BLUE WHALE- 2
HUMPBACK WHALE- 1
BAIRD'S BEAKED WHALE- 12 (2 groups)
LONG-BEAKED COMMON DOLPHIN- 8
OCEAN SUNFISH- 20
VARIOUS JELLIES- +++
JOIN US ON OUR SEPTEMBER 12, 2015 ALBACORE TRIP!
Another Great Birthday Trip for Me,
Debi Shearwater
debi@shearwaterjourneys.com
All images, except Baird's Beaked Whales, by Beth Hamel, copyright.
Baird's Beakded Whales by Debi Shearwater, copyright.
Please ask permission to use.
To see more of Beth Hamel's images, click here.
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