Last Saturday Westport Seabirds conducted an outer slope trip to the waters a few miles beyond the edge of the continental shelf. It was an exciting trip with a number of highlights along with some curious ?misses?. We departed just after 0530, and the west swell and chop from the NW wind made for a bumpy ride on the outbound trip. Conditions in the nearshore started foggy with limited visibility continuing several miles offshore. Thousands of Sooty Shearwaters were in the nearshore zone beginning with at least 2000 recorded inside the harbor. The fog limited the true count from the jetty on until conditions cleared about 0800. We ran a course to the northwest hoping to encounter the shrimp fleet fishing out on the shelf well north of the harbor. It was a bit of a challenge running into the wind and swell. It turned out to be a great choice however and we were able to reach the southern end of the shrimp fleet, before turning west to the deeper water over the edge of the shelf.

Shortly after the fog cleared we ran into our first big surprise of the day. A towering blow, and a massive pale gray back was sighted just to the southwest. This was the first of two Blue Whales sighted just a few miles apart on the trip out. This was only our second encounter with Blues on a Westport trip and it was a thrill as well as a bit of a shock to find 2 for the day. There was much bird activity in this area with numbers of Sooty and Pink-Footed Shearwaters, Fork-tailed Storm Petrels, and our first Black-Footed Albatross of the trip. A dark storm petrel seen briefly in this area generated much discussion among the few that saw it, but ultimately was recorded as Storm-Petrel sp.

The irregular seas and wind chop made spotting birds on the surface a challenge; it would be a tough day for finding alcids and phalaropes on the water. As we approached the shrimp boats, numbers of Pink-footed Shearwaters increased and we encountered our first Flesh-footed Shearwater and Pomerine Jeager of the day. By about 1000 we reached the fishing fleet and followed a long line of Pink-footed and Sooty Shearwaters, Northern Fulmar, California Gulls, and several Black-Footed Albatross to the closest fishing boat. Putting chum in the water brought numbers of birds close into the boat and made for some great photo opportunities. Before long a Flesh-footed Shearwater was on the water behind the boat followed a very distinct Short-tailed Shearwater on the water very close to the boat.

When it was time to leave the boats for deeper off shore waters we had at least 3 Short-tailed Shearwaters swimming around the boat among the masses of Northern Fulmar, Sooty, and Pink-footed Shearwaters. With only one boat in our sample and the bulk of the fishing fleet scattered well to the north, it is tantalizing to imagination just what might be out there. Leaving the fishing boat behind, we immediately encountered our first of four Tufted Puffin for the day. As we crossed over the shelf edge, a Xantus?s type Murrelet jumped off the water immediately in front of the boat and quickly disappeared into the distance. With white in the face in front of and behind the eye, this is a good candidate for Guadalupe and will be one for the records committee to ponder. As we continued, small numbers of Cassin?s Auklets flushed ahead of the boat.

Reaching our chum spot the breeze freshened and bird activity was sparse. Eventually a few Cal Gulls, Northern Fulmar and Black-footed Albatross visited the slick. An immaculate Pomerine Jeager came in close to investigate. Finally a few storm Petrels arrived, including at least 7 Leaches, a target species for the deeper water areas. The return trip was much smoother going with the wind and swell. A pass back by the shrimp boats again picked up good numbers of birds and the same species mix as the outbound leg. The area in front of the harbor mouth had lots of bird activity with a very large mixed species flock creating chaos for the counters. The flock was dominated by Sooty Shearwaters, Common Murres, and Gulls. The only new bird for the trip here was a lone Pacific Loon.

Overall it was an exciting and productive trip with some notable misses and low numbers of some species. Pomerine was the only Jeager seen and absence of South Polar Skua was a surprise. Only a 3 Sabines Gulls were seen and the only Black-legged Kittiwake was in the harbor mouth on the way out. Phalaropes were a bit tough to come by with only a handful or Reds seen for the day. The mammal count was good with great views of Blue Whale (2) highlighting the trip. Others included Dalls and Harbor Porpoise, Gray Whale, Harbor Seal, and Steller Sea lion. Two small whales seen together on the inbound trip were likely one of the beaked whale species. A number of Mola Mola were encountered along with a Blue Shark in the chum slick.

The total numbers and species count for the trip have been entered in ebird and will be posted to the Westport Seabirds website. Spotters for the trip included Scott Mills, Bill Shelmerdine, and Jim Danzenbaker. Phil and Chris Anderson did another great job running the trip and finding the birds.


Bill Shelmerdine
Westport Seabirds