August 16, 2009 Trip Report
Archive
Sunday August 16, 2009
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).
See Jeff Poklen's photo gallery of this trip at: http://www.pbase.com/jpkln/16aug2009
Roger Wolfe for Monterey Seabirds
Species mentioned
Black-footed Albatross · Pink-footed Shearwater · Red-necked Phalarope · Buller's Shearwater · Brandt's Cormorant · Long-tailed Jaeger · Ashy Storm-Petrel · Rhinoceros Auklet · Sooty Shearwater · South Polar Skua · Parasitic Jaeger · Pigeon Guillemot · Northern Fulmar · Pomarine Jaeger · Heermann's Gull · California Gull · Cassin's Auklet · Risso's Dolphin · Humpback Whale · Sabine's Gull · Western Gull · Elegant Tern · Common Murre · Arctic Tern