copyright 2003 Shearwater Journeys

Hello, Seabirders,

What a wonderful complement the July 27th Shearwater Journeys' trip from Bodega Bay was to the July 25th Monterey Bay trip! These two pelagic trips highlighted the distribution of seabirds relative to sea surface temperature and food supply. (Caution: keep in mind that this is a fluid environment, and constantly changing.) The sea surface temperature in Monterey ranged from 54-58 F, increasing as we moved offshore. The sea surface temperature out of Bodega Bay was a steady 51F from the weather buoy to the Cordell Bank. Once we travelled beyond the Cordell Bank, the temperature increased to 54 F. All of the murrelet sightings were in this warmer water. Many seabird species were working the edge of this thermocline, while the Northern Fulmars were concentrated in the cold water.

The ASHY STORM-PETRELS were particularly of note. Historically, Ashy Storm-Petrels have congregated on the north side of Monterey Bay. In recent years, we have found that these storm-petrels raft up in the early part of the fall season at Cordell Bank and Bodega Canyon. Even into mid-September, our trips have found large numbers of Ashy Storm-Petrels (and other species) at the Cordell Bank. We recorded at least 300 Ashy Storm-Petrels on July 27th. One "white-rumped" storm-petrel flew by, probably a Wilson's Storm-Petrel. So, if you are looking for storm-petrels, it would be wise to include a trip from Bodega Bay.

Folks who went on the Bodega Bay trip added some new species not encountered on the Monterey trip on July 25th: hundreds of NORTHERN FULMARS, hundreds of ASHY STORM-PETRELS, POMARINE and LONG-TAILED JAEGERS, TUFTED PUFFIN, and COMMON and PACIFIC LOONS. However, folks who went on the Monterey trip had the best views of the XANTUS' MURRELETS, as most of those spotted on the Bodega trip were "flyaways." As always in migration, it is best to take in as many trips as possible from different ports. These trips give us an excellent and valuable picture of the overall distribution of seabirds along the central California coast.

Of course, we had the morning fog that has been typical due to the heated central valley. Once the fog burned off, we were treated with glassy seas. The Beaufort ranged from 2 to 0 by the end of the day. Just as in Monterey Bay, many By-The-Wind-Sailors (Velella velalla) were scattered over the surface of the sea. These delightful jellies, have a sail that is angled to the left or right of the main body axis such that in a breeze the animals drift some 45 degrees to the left or right of the true wind direction. Right-handed animals prevail off the California coast, and our prevailing northerly winds tend to hold the population offshore; prolonged southerly or westerly winds bring them on to the beaches. Amazingly, we watched an Ocean Sunfish (Mola mola), sucking in the sailors on the July 25th trip!

Upcoming trips with spaces still available are from:
Monterey: August 2, 8, 23, & 31 and September 7, 14, 15, 26
Bodega Bay: August 9 and September 12, 19, 28
Santa Cruz: September 13, 27
Fort Bragg: September 21.
Our August 10, 15, 16, 17, & 18 trips are sold out.

The complete list for the July 27, 2003 Bodega Bay trip to Bodega Canyon and Cordell Bank follows:

COMMON LOON-1
PACIFIC LOON-1
BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS-100
SOOTY SHEARWATER-40
PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER-75
BULLER'S SHEARWATER-1
NORTHERN FULMAR-125
ASHY STORM-PETREL-300
POMARINE JAEGER-2
LONG-TAILED JAEGER-2 (1 ADULT)
WESTERN GULL-70
CALIFORNIA GULL-2
HEERMAN'S GULL-2
SABINE'S GULL-250
ARCTIC/COMMON TERN-1
COMMON MURRE-400
PIGEON GUILLEMOT-30
RHINOCEROS AUKLET-15
CASSIN'S AUKLET-500
XANTUS' MURRELET-3
XANTUS'/CRAVERI'S MURRELET-1
TUFTED PUFFIN-1
RED-NECKED PHALAROPE-200
RED PHALAROPE-6
HUMPBACK WHALE-9
NORTHERN ELEPHANT SEAL-8
OCEAN SUNFISH-4
BLUE SHARK-4
BY-THE-WIND-SAILORS-MANY

At low tide, Bodega harbor is teeming with birds, especially notable was a flock of 200+ SURFBIRDS, along with many other species of shorebirds. BLACK and RUDDY TURNSTONES were along the jetty. This would be an excellent place for scoping birds!

Good seabirding,
Debi Shearwater