Sixteen birders from the Netherlands, Australia and various states joined us on a wonderful trip yesterday!
Leaving at 5:30 a.m., with a gorgeous sunrise and Mount Rainier in the background, we motored out of the harbor with very calm seas ahead. The seas remained calm throughout the morning with some choppy waves on our return.
This trip was scheduled as an outer slope trip beyond our normal stop, to maybe spot Leach?s Storm-Petrels, which feed further out. We were able to spot 18 individuals along this course. The other seabird highlights included 3 South Polar Skua, 3 Tufted Puffins, 91 Cassin?s Auklets and 8 Ancient Murrelets (with 2 chicks with adults included).
This year, our trips have featured incredible marine mammal highlights. This trip was another spectacular showing! 9 Humpback Whales, 805 Pacific White-sided Dolphins mixed with 400 Northern Right Whale Dolphins, 3 Dall?s Porpoise and 1 Northern Fur Seal put on an amazing performance.

Our bird list for the day
Harlequin Duck-1, in the boat basin
Surf Scoter-3
Black-footed Albatross-84
Northern Fulmar-4
Pink-footed Shearwater-719
Sooty Shearwater-8380
Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel-151
Leach?s Storm-Petrel-18
Brandt?s Cormorant-59
Double-crested Cormorant-103
Pelagic Cormorant-7
Brown Pelican-127
Red-necked Phalaropes-54
South Polar Skua-3
Parasitic Jaeger-1
Common Murre-619
Pigeon Guillemot-18
Marbled Murrelet-1
Ancient Murrelet-8
Cassin?s Auklet-91
Rhinoceros Auklet-43
Tufted Puffin-3
Heermann?s Gull-6
California Gull-3
Glaucous-winged/Western Gull-463

Mammals
Humpback Whale-9
Harbor Porpoise-7
Dall?s Porpoise-3
Pacific White-sided Dolphin-805
Northern Right Whale Dolphin-400
Northern Fur Seal-1
Steller?s Sea Lion-8

The next Westport Seabirds pelagic trips are scheduled for July 20 and July 23. To inquire about reservations, schedules and all other information, please visit our website at www.westportseabirds.com
Leaders for this trip were Scott Mills and me. Boat personal were Loc Do and Ken Luce.

Bruce LaBar
Tacoma, WA