Howdy, Seabirders,
Monterey's seabirds put on a non-stop show on August 21, 2015! Seabirds were in view throughout the day with virtually no lulls. It was a bit exhausting!
Monterey Bay is usually so productive that it doesn't really matter where I go with the boat. Consequently, for most trips, I don't make an advance plan. However, on this day I had a distinctive plan: head out to where we used to find the storm-petrels after covering the inshore birds and then head to Moss Landing where a humpback whale show is simply over the top! And, this is exactly what we did — the results speak for themselves!
A few of the commercial fishing fleet in the harbor.
A mother SEA OTTER in the harbor, banging a clam, and feeding it to her youngster while a WESTERN GULL hangs out for tidbits of scraps.
CALIFORNIA SEA LIONS & HEERMANN'S GULL on the Coast Guard Breakwater.
Scanning the rocky jetty, we found BLACK OYSTERCATCHERS, BLACK TURNSTONES & SURFBIRDS.
A GREAT EGRET fishing from the jetty.
BRANDT'S CORMORANTS (above) are abundant along the inshore areas, while PELAGIC CORMORANTS are found in much smaller numbers.
One of the strangest and most endearing fishes, the OCEAN SUNFISH (Mola mola).
WESTERN GULL mouthing off.
I once saw a Western Gull eat a Red-necked Phalarope alive.
It is easy to see how that big mouth could swallow the whole phalarope.
Just about a mile and half off Point Pinos, we encountered thousands of streaming SOOTY SHEARWATERS. They seemed to be traveling from Moss Landing and heading southwest.
SOOTY SHEARWATER, above.
Along with the shearwaters, FATHER/CHICK PAIRS of COMMON MURRES were just off the point.
RED-NECKED PHALAROPES, above, and RED PHALAROPES, below, were found throughout the day.
Ten individuals have been fitted with radio tags.
One was tracked to Monterey Bay!
Scattered RISSO'S DOLPHIN groups were around, hunting squid.
PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER and BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS flying side-by-side, above.
PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER sitting in our wake.
They often vocalize, "beep!"
BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS, one of three species in the North Pacific.
LONG-BEAKED COMMON DOLPHINS added to the species list.
Their tiny calves were traveling with mothers.
They are not normally found in Monterey Bay, preferring the warmer waters south of Point Conception on the California coastline. But, during this warm water, El Nino year, they have been hanging out in Monterey Bay.
SEABIRDERS enjoying the sights of the day!
We managed to find scatterings of both ASHY & BLACK STORM-PETRELS.
The "stacks" of the power plant at MOSS LANDING.
Again, we encountered hundreds of feeding shearwaters, and more than 50 feeding humpback whales.
SOOTY SHEARWATERS, above.
SOOTY SHEARWATERS with impersonator POMARINE JAEGERS!
POMARINE JAEGER
Overall, jaeger numbers have been very thin so far, this season.
A LUNGE-FEEDING HUMPBACK WHALE!
That's the head of the whale, with the mouth wide open.
It is gulping water laden with anchovies.
BREACHING HUMPBACK WHALES were like the final fireworks on the 4th of July!
HUMPBACK WHALE TAIL FLUKES & a BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATER.
These southern shearwaters have just arrived in Monterey Bay!
A positively splendid day with Monterey's seabirds and marine mammals!
Many thanks to all of the birders who joined us on this day from NY, LA, WI, MA, TX, MN, England and of course, California. We couldn't do it without you!
To view more images of this trip by Beth Hamel, click
here.
The leaders on this trip were: Nick Levendosky, Rick Fournier, Jennifer Green, Christian Schwarz, and Debi Shearwater. Sea surface temperatures ranged from 61-64F, warmest near the weather buoy area.
THE COMPLETE SPECIES LIST FOR SHEARWATER JOURNEYS' AUGUST 21, 2015 TRIP FOLLOWS: MONTEREY/SANTA CRUZ COUNTIES:
BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 90/20
NORTHERN FULMAR- 17/5
PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 200/450
BULLER'S SHEARWATER- 6/5
SOOTY SHEARWATER- 5500/770
BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATER- 10/0
ASHY STORM-PETREL- 15/10
BLACK STORM-PETREL- 9/2
BROWN PELICAN- +
BRANDT'S CORMORANT- 150/20
DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT- 1/0
PELAGIC CORMORANT- 4/0
BLACK OYSTERCATCHER- 2/0
BLACK TURNSTONE- 2/0
SURFBIRD- 3/0
RED-NECKED PHALAROPE- 85/380
RED PHALAROPE- 18/23
POMARINE JAEGER- 4/2
PARASITIC JAEGER- 1/0
PARASITIC/LONG-TAILED JAEGER- 0/1
HEERMANN'S GULL- 30
CALIFORNIA GULL- +
WESTERN GULL- +
SABINE'S GULL- 9/2
ELEGANT TERN- 300/10
COMMON/ARCTIC TERN- 1/0
CASPIAN TERN- 2/0
COMMON MURRE- 500/250
PIGEON GUILLEMOT- 8/1
CASSIN'S AUKLET- 6/10
RHINOCEROS AUKLET- 14/2
TUFTED PUFFIN- 1/0, flyby
SEA OTTER- 7
CALIFORNIA SEA LION- 25-
NORTHERN FUR SEAL- 12
NORTHERN ELEPHANT SEAL- 2
HARBOR SEAL- 4
HUMPBACK WHALE- 62
LONG-BEAKED COMMON DOLPHIN- 250
RISSO'S DOLPHIN- 15
HARBOR PORPOISE- 7
OCEAN SUNFISH- 8
EGG YOLK JELLY- ++
MOON JELLY- +
UPCOMING TRIPS FROM MONTEREY:
SEPTEMBER 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 16, 25, 26, 27
OCTOBER 3 & 10
UPCOMING TRIPS FROM HALF MOON BAY:
SEPTEMBER 6 & 20; OCTOBER 4, 11
GREAT WHITE SHARK TRIP:
OCTOBER 18, departing from Sausalito to the Farallon Islands
Hope to see you out there!
LIVING THE SALT LIFE,
Debi Shearwater
