MONTEREY SEABIRDS: AUGUST 15, 2014 FIREWORKS!

Skua, Sabine's Gulls & Breaching Humpback Whales, Oh My!

Shearwater Journeys's August 15 pelagic trip started off with fireworks and ended with a grande finale! Monterey's seabirds were putting on a show by 8 a.m. with ELEGANT TERNS, below, feeding noisy, begging youngsters and flocks of thousands of SOOTY SHEARWATERS just outside of the harbor along with over thirty HUMPBACK WHALES. It was quite an image of marine bounty! Amongst the thousands of Sooty Shearwaters, were hundreds of BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATERS. Soon, we spotted a group of RISSO'S DOLPHINS, flocks of RED-NECKED PHALAROPES, and the first of a few RHINOCEROS AUKLETS. Offshore marine life was quiet, but this is where we found SOUTH POLAR SKUA and a small flock of SABINE'S GULLS, including the first juveniles of the fall season. A single CRAVERI'S MURRELET instantly flew off. Returning to the harbor along the Pacific Grove coastline, we ran into more Humpbacks, including one small individual that repeatedly breached, putting on a grand finale show much like the last fireworks of the evening on the 4th of July! Whale watching was superb and Monterey seabirds pulled out all the stops! 

ELEGANT TERN

SOOTY SHEARWATER

BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATER

 

BRANDT'S CORMORANT

PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER

RISSO'S DOLPHIN

RISSO'S DOLPHINS have been observed on almost all of our trips. They feed on squid. 

There has been loads of squid around, both Monterey Bay and Half Moon Bay.

RISSO'S DOLPHIN calf in foreground showing the steely-gray, unscarred body. 

RHINOCEROS AUKLET, even in silhouette, the flat head is prominent, unlike a puffin which has a rounded head. The horn is even visible in this image. The horn is grown during breeding season. These auklets excavate a burrow underground for nesting. The horn wears down in the excavating process.

RED-NECKED PHALAROPES, the inshore phalarope species. 

SABINE'S GULLS, above, first of the season juvenile on left. 

HUMPBACK WHALE off Pacific Grove on our return to the harbor. 

Repeatedly breaching HUMPBACK WHALE!

Just like the grand finale at a 4th of July fireworks celebration!

This was a small HUMPBACK, even so, note the very long pectoral flippers, distinctive on an Humpback Whale. 

WHALE WATCHING boats watching the breaching HUMPBACK WHALE!

Spy-hopping HUMPBACK WHALE

Mouth of the HUMPBACK WHALE, slightly open. Notice the throat pleats which can expand when feeding, and many barnacles on the lower jaw, and the distinctive nobs on the top of the head. 

HUMPBACK WHALE, sounding in front of the whale watching boat. 

All images, copyright, Sophie Webb.

Please do not use without permission.

Many thanks to all of the folks who joined us from near and far. 

The leaders on this trip were: Todd McGrath, Sophie Webb, Rick Fournier, Jennifer Green, Jim Danzenbaker, John Sorensen, and Debi Shearwater. We headed southwest off the Monterey Submarine Canyon. The Sea Surface Temperature was an even 63F throughout the day — like a big bathtub.

THE COMPLETE SPECIES LIST FOR SHEARWATER JOURNEYS'S MONTEREY BAY PELAGIC TRIP, AUGUST 15, 2014 FOLLOWS:

ALL RECORDS FOR MONTEREY COUNTY

BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 11

PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 66

SOOTY SHEARWATER- 7650

BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATER- 450

BROWN PELICAN- 25

BRANDT'S CORMORANT- 309

PELAGIC CORMORANT- 2

WANDERING TATTLER- 1

BLACK TURNSTONE- 2

RED-NECKED PHALAROPE- 154

SOUTH POLAR SKUA- 1

JAEGER SP.- 2

HEERMANN'S GULL- 65

CALIFORNIA GULL- 6

WESTERN GULL- 139

SABINE'S GULL- 8, including juveniles

ELEGANT TERN- 93

COMMON MURRE- 280

PIGEON GUILLEMOT- 8

CRAVERI'S MURRELET- 1

CASSIN'S AUKLET- 1

RHINOCEROS AUKLET- 11

SEA OTTER- 4

CALIFORNIA SEA LION- 200

HARBOR SEAL- 2

HUMPBACK WHALE- 30 to 35

RISSO'S DOLPHIN- 22

DALL'S PORPOISE- 3

OCEAN SUNFISH- 10

BY-THE-WIND-SAILORS- some, not as many as on July trips

UPCOMING MONTEREY BAY TRIPS & LEADERS

AUG. 22: Scott Terrill, Rick Fournier, Jennifer Green

SEP. 5: Rick Founier, Nick Levendosky, Jennifer Green

SEP. 6: Scott & Linda Terrill

SEP. 9: Rick Fournier, Tom Johnson

SEP. 10: Tom Johnson

SEP. 11: Jennifer Green

SEP. 12: Tim Miller, Dena Spatz

SEP. 13, ALBACORE: Scott & Linda Terrill, Jennifer Green

SEP. 14: Clay Kempf

SEP. 25: Jon Dunn, Nick Levendosky, Jim Danzenbaker

SEP. 26: Kenn & Kimberly Kaufman, Scott & Linda Terrill

SEP. 27: Scott & Linda Terrill, Jim Danzenbaker, Jennifer Green

SEP. 28: Rick Fournier, Marissa Ortega-Welch, Courtenay Ray

OCT. 4: Nick Levendosky, Jennifer Green

OCT. 11: Nick Levendosky, Rick Fournier

Debi Shearwater will be co-leading on all trips

Shearwater Journeys has many pelagic seabird trips departing from HALF MOON BAY (next one, August 23), and BODEGA BAY (September 1 & 19). 

BREACHING HUMPBACKS FOREVER,

DEBI SHEARWATER

debi@shearwaterjourneys.com

AUGUST 5, 2012: IMAGES OF THE DAY BY JEAN MYERS

Howdy, Birders,

I hope you will enjoy the images below by fellow traveler, birder and photographer, Jean Myers. All images shot while on board the fabulous Shearwater Journeys' pelagic trip to the Farallon Islands, August 5, 2012. All images, Copyright, Jean Myers, all rights reserved. Please do not use without permission. View more of Jean's images and her restoration work at Casa Dos Rios. 

Adult TUFTED PUFFIN, above is always the highlight of our Farallon Islands trip. This year, it was eclipsed at the end of the day by a very special seabird, the Northern Gannet. 

 CASSIN'S AUKLET, above, the smallest alcid that occurs in our area and is all dark to the water line.

 Two BLUE WHALES, above, the largest animal to ever live on Earth. Their steely, blue color and small dorsal fin are good field marks. Amazingly, the mighty blue whale feeds on the same small, shrimp-like krill, as the Cassin's Auklet, above. It was no surprise to see them in the same area. 

 BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS taking off, above. If we had spent more time off the edge of the Continental Shelf, we might have seen more of the "real seabirds", but---

HUMPBACK WHALE double tail flukes— the underside of the flukes are used to identify individual humpbacks. A whale watching boat in the background. 

 A "SKUNK HEAD" SOOTY SHEARWATER, above and normal colored SOOTY SHEARWATER, below. 

A call from the island sent us scurrying back to see the NORTHERN GANNET at Saddle Rock. We had failed to find it during a two hour search earlier in the day. 

Remarkably, this NORTHERN GANNET was seen carrying nesting material in June by a seabird biologist! One wonders what might happen should another gannet show up!

Enjoy! 

It was one of those days that we ocean folk live for!

Real birds eat squid,

Debi Shearwater