Windy

Howdy, Seabirders - Well, it turned out to be a fantastic day for seabirds and marine mammals on the otherwise, windy albacore trip from Monterey Bay with Shearwater Journeys on Saturday, September 29, 2007. Albacore were not in reach, being more than 85 miles offshore. So, we headed north to the canyons off Davenport. Seas were choppy and the northwest winds made birding difficult. So, we decided to head for nearshore Santa Cruz where we could hide in the lee of the mountains. This turned out to be a great idea! Soon, we had marvelous views of MARBLED MURRELETS which absolutely delighted everyone on board, especially the photographers. We saw the usual late fall seabirds, but the stand out highlight of the day was a FRIENDLY HUMPBACK WHALE that was RADIO TAGGED!! This whale hung around our boat, swam under the bow, spyhopped within feet of our faces, repeatedly, blew snot in our cameras, and even went belly up, under the bow. This lasted for about 20 minutes, while the various whale watching boats sat around watching the show under our vessel!

Photos & Leaders

Many thanks to all of the birders/photographers who joined our trip! Some awesome photographs were shot. The leaders were: Luke Cole, Brian Sullivan, Jim Danzenbaker, Steve Howell, Don Doolittle, & Debra Shearwater. Spaces are still open on all of our Monterey trips for the remainder of the fall season, beginning this weekend:
OCTOBER 5, 6 (ALBACORE), 7, 12, 13, 14 (ALBACORE), and 20th.
Please contact Debra Shearwater for a reservation. The complete species list for the SEPTEMBER 29, 2007 MONTEREY BAY PELAGIC TRIP follows:

RED-THROATED LOON-1
COMMON LOON-1
EARED GREBE-1
WESTERN GREBE-20
CLARK'S GREBE-2
WESTERN/CLARK'S GREBE-20
BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS-6 to 9
NORTHERN FULMAR-12
PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER-153
BULLER'S SHEARWATER-113
SOOTY SHEARWATER-35
ASHY STORM-PETREL-3
BLACK STORM-PETREL-2
BROWN PELICAN-85
BRANDT'S CORMORANT-1060
DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT-7
PELAGIC CORMORANT-7
SURF SCOTER-1
RED-NECKED PHALAROPE-15 to 20
SOUTH POLAR SKUA-8 to 10
POMARINE JAEGER-23
PARASITIC JAEGER-2
HEERMANN'S GULL-41
CALIFORNIA GULL-350
WESTERN GULL-400
SABINE'S GULL-8
ELEGANT TERN-66
COMMON MURRE-100
PIGEON GUILLEMOT-3
MARBLED MURRELET-9
RHINOCEROS AUKLET-20 to 30
SEA OTTER-12
CALIFORNIA SEA LION-250
HUMPBACK WHALE-5, one "friendly" with a radio tag
NORTHERN RIGHT WHALE DOLPHIN-150
PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHIN-200

Friendlys forever,

DEBRA SHEARWATER
PO BOX 190
HOLLISTER, CA 95024
831/637-8527