IMAGES OF THE DAY by BETH HAMEL: AUGUST 26, 2016 MONTEREY BAY

From frolicking SEA OTTERS just outside the harbor—

to BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSSES just off Point Pinos within the first hour of the day 

watching BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSSES folding their wings upon landing behind the vessel

to the blow of a mighty BLUE WHALE, the largest animal that has ever lived on Earth

 to tiny CASSIN'S AUKLETS which feed on krill just like the blue whale

to the very curious looking OCEAN SUNFISH, Mola Mola

and PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATERS shearing the ocean surface with their wings

 and nearly 50 HUMPBACK WHALES

flocks of SABINE'S GULLS lifting off the sea

and the juvenile LONG-TAILED JAEGERS which chase them

 juvenile LONG-TAILED JAEGER right over our heads

male POMARINE JAEGERS that chase all of them

cruising in attack mode

 RISSO'S DOLPHINS nearshore

 feeding on the abundant squid

 to the just-arrived from southern California, BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATERS

it was simply an amazing day of nonstop marine action with all players present— Monterey seabirds, marine mammals and interesting fish! What's next?

COMMENTS FROM ONE PARTICIPANT:

Just wanted to say thank you for a fantastic pelagic trip this past Friday! What an amazing journey, with whales, dolphins and porpoises as an added bonus. The sight of a blue whale in the wild is something I will always treasure. You and the crew are a class act, constantly working hard to get on the birds and answer questions. I had read your praises in the writings of Big Year bloggers like Dorian Anderson and Olaf Danielson, and they were spot on in their compliments. In the days leading up to the trip, I had hoped for a couple of Black-footed Albatross. Like others, I was floored when they surrounded the boat!

Yes, you are the best in the business, and I will happily recommend Shearwater Journeys to fellow birders. Keep up the great work, and thanks again.

C. B. — Redondo Beach, California

THANK YOU, ONE AND ALL! 

To read the full trip report for August 26, 2016, click here. 

I HOPE YOU ENJOY THESE IMAGES BY BETH HAMEL

All images, copyright, Beth Hamel

Check the SHEARWATER JOURNEYS' SCHEDULE for lots of upcoming trips during September!

Living the Salt Life,

Debi Shearwater

debi@shearwaterjourneys.com

ABOUT: The ALBACORE OFFSHORE MONTEREY TRIP

A HOLISTIC APPROACH to SEABIRDING

ALBACORE GROUNDS: OFFSHORE MONTEREY

with 

SHEARWATER JOURNEYS

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2015

After the record shattering El Nino of 1982-83, Shearwater Journeys began offering offshore pelagic trips departing from Monterey to the albacore fishing grounds because fisherman had reported incredible numbers of many of specialty seabirds and marine mammals that were often associated with albacore. 

From the get-go, these trips had a holistic approach. "Holistic" has been defined as: "characterized by the comprehension of the parts of something as intimately interconnected and explicable only by reference to the whole."More than any other pelagic trip, this trip focused on the "whole picture" — the whole ecosystem — from the tiny krill to the Pacific saury and the massive blue whales that fed on the krill, to the albacore that fed on the saury, to the surface-feeding Buller's shearwaters, to the plunge-diving Arctic terns that fed from above, to the swarms of jaegers above them — when all these parts come together in one vast ocean scene, it is simply spectacular! This is a trip not to be missed, especially this year with another, massive El Nino in progress. 

Above, Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies 1982 El Nino

Albacore (Thunnus alalunga), is al large, migratory tuna that visits the central coast of California some years, mostly during fall. This fish is built for speed with long pectoral fins. Albacore populations have shifted northward with changing oceanographic conditions. The bulk of the catch now comes from Oregon and Washington.

Above, our Captain, Tinker, and I with an ALBACORE that I caught on one of our many trips. 

Fishermen have been harvesting this fish for over 100 years. It is most often caught by trolling or pole-and-line. Sometimes, we use live bait if available, usually live anchovies. Watching the albacore chase and catch the bait is amazing! Whether trolling or using a fishing pole, once a fish is hooked, the fisherman yells, "FISH ON!" The boat will stop and the captain will assist the fisherman in bringing the fish on board where it will be stored under the seat. This is called, "having one in the box."

PACIFIC SAURY, above, is a pelagic schooling fish found in the North Pacific. Often, whole schools burst out of the ocean, indicating that an albacore is chasing them from below! Sometimes, the albacore itself will launch itself out of the water! In fishermen's terms, this is called sighting a "JUMPER."

A columnar whale blow shooting some 30 feet high is a sure sign of a BLUE WHALE! 

The largest animal that has ever lived on Earth, BLUE WHALES are observed on about 90% of our albacore trips. The tiny dorsal fin, steely-blue and freckled skin are the field marks of the very sought after blue whale. 

Flocks of SABINE'S GULLS sitting on the water are common on albacore trips. 

Pomarine, and sometimes, parasitic jaeger chase Sabine's gulls until they drop their food.

Sometimes, flocks of ARCTIC TERNS sit on the sea, too. 

Tuna fishermen call the Arctic tern, "tuna birds," indicating that albacore may be nearby.

More often, Arctic terns in are the sky, being pursued by LONG-TAILED JAEGERS.

The jaeger show can be incredible, with long-taileds topping 100 individuals. As many as 30 can be around the vessel at one time. 

We have a near 100% record of finding SOUTH POLAR SKUA on this trip!

The murrelets, tiny alcids of the sea, are the most prized birds on this trip. 

Generally, flat-calm seas are necessary to be able to spot this alcid, the size of one's hand at a distance. 

SCRIPPS'S MURRELETS, above and below. 

GUADALUPE MURRELET, below, is the rarest of the three species none of which have been found along the central coast of California recently — until the warm water showed up in 2014. So, 2015 looks very promising.

There's always a chance for a rarity on a 12 hour trip. 

Twice on albacore trips, we have found RED-TAILED TROPICBIRDS. 

Almost all records for this species have been more than 100, and closer to 200 miles offshore. 

The rarely observed BAIRD'S BEAKED WHALE is often seen on our albacore trips. 

Note the bulbous head and protruding "beaks" on these large toothed whales, below. 

Listen to their sound, here. 

Typically, we do go much further offshore on an albacore trip than the standard Monterey trip. But, there are times when offshore reports from the fishermen might indicate that going offshore is like heading into a giant dead zone. Once such year this happened, and I elected to go north to the many canyons located off Davenport. 

That was a historic day: OCTOBER 14, 2006. 

At the crack of dawn, leader David Vander Plyum spotted a STREAKED SHEARWATER! 

This mega-rare shearwater is usually found in nearshore waters off Japan! 

A GREAT SHEARWATER, above, was soon spotted as well! This shearwater occurs in the Atlantic Ocean!

By day's end, we had once again SET A WORLD RECORD for the HIGH COUNT OF SHEARWATERS SEEN IN ONE DAY!

*EIGHT SPECIES OF SHEARWATERS*

Shearwater Journeys also set a world record of eight species of shearwaters on October 1, 1994. 

And, it was a different set of eight shearwaters on each trip!

In 2009, record numbers of COOK'S PETRELS showed up near a canyon south of Monterey. Incredibly, we found them on many trips that stayed out beyond the regular hours. 

HAWAIIAN PETREL, below, is still a good contender for any offshore trip, although nearly all of the Hawaiian petrels I've seen have been within 10 miles of shore, sometimes much closer. 

During an El Nino, it is possible for just about anything to show up.

WEDGE-TAILED SHEARWATER, above, has been seen from shore in Southern California this year. WEDGE-RUMPED STORM-PETREL (2 mist netted at the Farallon Islands this year), BULWER'S PETREL (found on a late July Shearwater Journeys' trip after El Nino), and maybe even WAVED ALBATROSS (2 sight records by good observers, neither confirmed)  could show up this year — who knows?

A surprise BROWN BOOBY fly by our September 13, 2014 albacore trip. 

The massive body of a BLUE WHALE, above, showing the splash guards and blowholes. 

Rarely seen, blue whale tail flukes.

Our typical Monterey seabird trips depart at 7 a.m. and return at 3 p.m. 

The albacore trip departs at 5:30 a.m. and returns at 5:30 p.m. 

If you could only do one Monterey seabird trip, do this one!

THERE IS ONLY ONE ALBACORE TRIP:

SEPTEMBER 12, 2015

LEADERS: SCOTT TERRILL, LINDA TERRILL, MARY GUSTAFSON, NICK LEVENDOSKY, RICK FOURNIER, DEBI SHEARWATER

DON'T MISS OUT!

DEBI SHEARWATER

debi@shearwaterjourneys.com

Special thanks to the photographers: Dave Pereksta, Todd McGrath, Beth Hamel, Bryan Hix, Scott Terrill, and Dave Pavlik. Please do not use images without permission. 

ALBACORE TRIP REPORT: SEP 13, 2014

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!

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- +++

ALBACORE TRIP REPORT: SEP 12, 2009 WITH COOK'S PETRELS

ALBACORE TRIP REPORT: SEP 13, 2008

ALBACORE TRIP REPORT: SEP 10, 2006

ALBACORE TRIP REPORT: SEP 12, 2004

ALBACORE TRIP REPORT: SEP 13, 2002

ALBACORE TRIP REPORT: OCT 6, 2001 with STREAKED SHEARWATER

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.