Yesterday, Westport Seabirds had a pelagic trip that was for a VENT tour group led by Bob Sundstrom. Gene Revelas and myself were the other leaders.
The ocean was unbelievably calm and flat for most of the day. We had maybe a half hour rain squall early in the morning otherwise the day was overcast, perfect for viewing on the ocean. The following are some of the highlights of the day.

Black-footed Albatross, Northern Fulmar, 1800 Pink-footed Shearwaters, which is a high number, about the same number of Sooty Shearwaters, several Buller's Shearwaters, one MANX SHEARWATER on the water with 50 Sooty's, giving us excellent views, good numbers of Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels, hundreds of Brown Pelicans in the harbor, several groups of Red-necked Phalaropes, 11 sightings of South Polar Skuas!, Pomarine and Parasitic Jaegers, the almost resident Glaucous Gull in the marina as we came in, lots of Sabine's Gulls, 2 Black-legged Kittiwakes by the jetty, our first of the pelagic year, many Cassin's Auklets due to the glossy water conditions, and three Tufted Puffins. Also,150 circling Marbled Godwits that landed near entrance to the marina.

Mammal highlights were the sighting of 11 Humpback Whales. Some came close to the boat, one breached a few times and one kept flapping his flipper on the surface of the water! Over 100 Northern Right Whale Dolphins came by us as our boat was turned off at the chum spot. Their sleek bodies, looking like diving seals because of no dorsal fin, body surfed in one big line right through us. Very spectacular!! Several Steller's Sea Lions were on a buoy as we came in, along with a couple Calf. Sea Lions. One Northern Fur Seal was sighted. Dall's Porpoise, Harbor Porpoise and Harbor Seals rounded out a wonderful sea mammal day.

Up coming trips that still have a few spaces are on Sept. 25 and Oct.9. Today's and next weeks are sold out. If you are interested in a great ocean adventure please inquire through our website at www.westportseabirds.com.

May the seas be calm and no glare to the eyes!
Bruce LaBar
Tacoma, Wa
blabar at harbornet.com