August 23, 2009 Trip Report
Archive
Sunday August 23, 2009
We covered a good part of the Monterey Bay on this 12-hour trip. One hundred and fourteen miles to be exact and we got as far as 40 miles west of Pt. Pinos. Leaving the dock we headed for "the Hump", an underwater plateau north of Soquel Canyon and then on toward the series of canyons: Cabrillo, Ano Nuevo and Ascension which is also known as "the Fingers." We then took a southwest route that brought us to the north rim of the Monterey Sea Canyon which we then followed back to Pt. Pinos. (See Google Earth map linked from below.)
The trip highlight occurred as we passed though the shipping channel in San Mateo County. Jim Holmes, who was up on the bow, spotted a COOK'S PETREL as it crossed the bow and paralleled the boat briefly before flying away toward our five o'clock. Chummer Alex Rinkert poured some cod liver oil off the stern and the bird came back into view for a second distant pass. Fortunately nearly everyone managed to get on the bird and high fives went all around. Remarkably even our skipper Richard Ternullo got one for a new lifer! Regrettably no one got very good photos for this trip report.
The other highlight was a LEATHERBACK TURTLE that we saw only briefly before it dove. Yes, dinosaurs still live in the bay.
And like last week there were jaegers all over the place particularly numerous were the LONG-TAILED JAEGERS of which Don Roberson kept a running tally for a new state record of 176!
The 5 ARCTIC TERNS we saw were running the gauntlet to be sure.
Marine mammals included DALL'S PORPOISE, NORTHERN RIGHT-WHALE and PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHINS, HUMPBACK WHALES, CALIFORNIA SEA LION and HARBOR and ELEPHANT SEALS.
Here is the species list for the day compiled by Don Roberson for eBird. Counts are for Monterey/Santa Cruz/San Mateo Counties
Black-footed Albatross 5/30/25
Northern Fulmar 10/8/25
Cooks Petrel 0/0/1
Pink-footed Shearwater 25/50/50
Buller's Shearwater 50/170/75
Sooty Shearwater 150/70/25
Ashy Storm-Petrel 2/6/25
Black Storm-petrel 0/2/1
Brown Pelican 2/2/0
Red-necked Phalarope 70/40/75
Red Phalarope 30/0/25
Sabine's Gull 50/70/75
Heermann's Gull 25/10/5
Western Gull 300/250/250
California Gull 80/90/150
gull sp. 1/0/0
Arctic Tern 2/0/3
Elegant Tern 0/1/0
South Polar Skua 1/1/4
Pomarine Jaeger 30/0/4
Parasitic Jaeger 9/7/9
Long-tailed Jaeger 69/29/78
jaeger sp. 5/2/8
Common Murre 20/0/0
Cassin's Auklet 15/20/25
Rhinoceros Auklet 2/5/2
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/gallery/23aug2009
Roger Wolfe for Monterey Seabirds
Species mentioned
Pacific White-sided Dolphin · Black-footed Albatross · Pink-footed Shearwater · Red-necked Phalarope · Buller's Shearwater · California Sea Lion · Black Storm-Petrel · Long-tailed Jaeger · Ashy Storm-Petrel · Rhinoceros Auklet · Sooty Shearwater · South Polar Skua · Parasitic Jaeger · Northern Fulmar · Pomarine Jaeger · Heermann's Gull · California Gull · Cassin's Auklet · Dall's Porpoise · Humpback Whale · Cook's Petrel · Brown Pelican · Red Phalarope · Sabine's Gull · Western Gull · Elegant Tern · Common Murre · Arctic Tern