Here is a belated report of the May 15 pelagic trip out of Westport, Washington.

As we left the harbor we encountered hundreds of common terns. Many of them were feeding in the harbor but there were also several large flocks circling high overhead. And as you would expect, wherever there are common terns there is trouble in the form of jaegers. Several dozen parasitic jaegers were harassing the terns.

Offshore we had 2 long-tailed jaegers (rare in spring), 2 pomarine jaegers (low number), flocks of red-necked phalaropes, a very confiding arctic tern, pink-footed shearwaters, and good numbers of black-footed albatross (278) and sooty shearwaters (10,000+). However, the Sabine's gulls were the star of the day. We must've hit the peak of their migration: flocks of 15 here, 100 there, 50 over there....our day tally was 1900 of this lovely gull.

The marine mammal diversity was pretty good, with gray whale, harbor porpoise, and 5 species of pinnipeds (California sea lion, Steller's sea lion, harbor seal, northern fur seal and northern elephant seal). We also had 4 orcas, which looked like transients (the population which preys on marine mammals).

Seas were calm, NO ONE got seasick, which was the first trip I've been on where that happened.

For more information on upcoming Westport Seabird pelagic trips, check out their web site at: www.westportseabirds.com

Mike Donahue
Seattle