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Monterey Bay 09-05-04

A small group from class (Ashutosh Sinha, Kay Matthews, Anne Creevy and Esther Litton) joined me and my friend Brian, for a pelagic trip on Monterey Bay with Debi Shearwater on one of her boats. We all took precautions to avoid seasickness and I'm happy to report that no one experienced the dreaded sickness! Conditions were mild, in fact quite beautiful on the bay, with clear skies, very little wind and warm temperatures. Debi said it's a rare trip indeed when she doesn't need to wear a heavy coat on the bay so that says a lot right there. While some species were missed, such as any Loons, Grebes or Murrelets, a nice representation of Tubenoses were located and the full complement of Jaegers! We began by sailing south from the harbor to Point Pinos and Point Lobos then out to deeper waters west and north toward Soquel Canyon off of Santa Cruz and back to Monterey Bay Fisherman's Warf. The boat set sail at 7:30 and returned to dock at about 3:30. We began seeing Red-necked Phalarope, Pigeon Guillemot and Elegan Tern immediately, followed quickly by Common Murre and Northern Fulmar, Sooty Shearwater and other pelagic species as we entered deeper water. Details are fading now, but it was obvious at the time that diverent areas hosted different species. Some areas were heavy with Alcids, while others hosted multitudes of Shearwaters. In addition, some areas produced many Jaegers while still others, completely separate, produced numerous Storm-Petrels. Debi seemed unsurprised by this situation and apparently has a pelagic map hardwired into her brain that describes the birds at each and every point on the bay. It really was nothing less than astounding! Bonus birds that are never guarantees on a September trip were two species of Storm-Petrel, South Polar Skua (did I happen to mention how cool the Skua was? This massive, muscular bird chased the off-shore Gulls like they were made of paper and straw, ripping through the group like so much newsprint, convincing them to "volunteer" a meal... I know that's mixing metaphors, but so what. Wow anyway!) and an alternate plumaged Tufted Puffin! I felt a bit cheeky at having called several "good" birds, including the day's only Puffin and three Jaegers, during the voyage which had no less than 5 seasoned guides on board. I tried very hard to test myself on the boat, calling out birds when I saw them, even trying to identify some Cetaceans... Still, I have a lot to learn about seabirding and look forward to more group outings like this. I hope everyone enjoyed themselves as much as I did. Afterward, Brian and I enjoyed some clam chowder on the stone wall by the water. Perhaps next time we could all sit down and eat at one of the seafood joints on the wharf and talk about what we've seen. Sadly, no lifers for me this time... but no matter, my heart always races at the site of an Albatross gliding effortlessly over the waves.


Black-footed Albatross
Northern Fulmar
Pink-footed Shearwater
Buller’s Shearwater
Sooty Shearwater
Black-vented Shearwater (seen by some)
Wilson’s Storm-Petrel (seen by some)
Ashy Storm-Petrel
Black Storm-Petrel
Brown Pelican
Brandt’s Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
Pelagic Cormorant
Whimbrel
Black Turnstone
Surfbird (seen by some)
Red-necked Phalarope
Red Phalarope
South Polar Skua
Pomarine Jaeger
Parasitic Jaeger
Long-tailed Jaeger (seen by some)
Heerman’s Gull
California Gull
Western Gull
Sabine’s Gull
Elegant Tern
Common Murre
Pigeon Guillemot
Rhinoceros Auklet
Tufted Puffin


Sea Otter
California Sea Lion
Northern Fur Seal
Humpback Whale
Common Dolphin
Northern Right Whale Dolphin
Risso’s Dolphin
Pacific White-sided Dolphin
Dall’s Porpoise
Ocean Sunfish
Blue Shark