We
made a gallant effort to work our way offshore in Beaufort 4 conditions.
The northwest wind was kind to us but the swell was a good 6-10 feet
and made the going slow. It was never so bad that the windows got
really wet but it was close.
Recent reports had Monterey Bay "cooking" as in Cookilaria but we
ended up with the digestif. Ours was a Jaegermeister day especially
the Long-tailed Jaegers of which Don Roberson and Dan Singer kept
a running count. Their total was a conservative 107, nearly double
the previous high count on a seabird trip out of Monterey (61). Today
was a study tour of LONG-TAILED JAEGER in every flavor.
Despite the less than favorable conditions Skipper Richard Ternullo
got us out to 1500 fathoms where we laid a slick of cod liver oil
and mashed anchovy and mackerel. Oddly enough this attracted no tubenoses
but did bring in a swarm of more Long-tailed Jaegers (13).
It was really a special study to have all the LTJA of which we typically
see only a handful on a good day. Of course we also enjoyed nice comparative
looks at them with POMARINE JAEGERS. Those LTJA are scrappy;
we saw them go after Poms and a SOUTH POLAR SKUA. The PARASITIC
JAEGERS were less common for the day but still fairly numerous
(22).
On the cetacean front we encountered BLUE and HUMPBACK WHALES, LONG-BEAKED
COMMON, PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED and RISSO'S DOLPHINS.
Species list compiled by Don Roberson and Dan Singer:
50
Black-footed Albatross
a conservative estimate, but many followed boat for miles
12
Northern Fulmar
40
Pink-footed Shearwater
25
Buller's Shearwater
400
Sooty Shearwater
10
Ashy Storm-Petrel
mostly well offshore
1
Brandt's Cormorant
70
Red-necked Phalarope
175
Sabine's Gull
in flocks of up to 40 well offshore
250
Heermann's Gull
500
Western Gull
150
California Gull
2
Arctic Tern
20
Elegant Tern
scattered to 10 mi offshore
3
South Polar Skua
1 juv, 2 subadults in heavy wing molt
22
Pomarine Jaeger
17
Parasitic Jaeger
mostly 1-10 nmi offshore
107
Long-tailed Jaeger
mostly 10-23 nmi offshore; farther out in flocks of 6-15. An
"exact" running total but still likely a significant undercount.
About half were thought to be juvs (many phs)
8
jaeger sp.
40
Common Murre
10
Pigeon Guillemot
exact count of a tight migrant flock of adults, heading north
3 nmi west of Pt. Pinos. Are these Channel Is birds migrating
to Puget Sound already? Very unusual
20
Cassin's Auklet
scattered mostly well offshore
8
Rhinoceros Auklet
Total species reported: 24
See the Google
Earth image showing locations of points along the track (opens
in new window).
We
made a gallant effort to work our way offshore in Beaufort 4 conditions.
The northwest wind was kind to us but the swell was a good 6-10 feet
and made the going slow. It was never so bad that the windows got
really wet but it was close.
