Pelagic Birding Tour Report by Terry Hunefeld

Searcher‘s Labor Day week expedition through the Channel Islands and deep waters beyond the Continental Shelf began with a Black Storm-Petrel in San Diego Harbor, 2 Black Oystercatchers at Ballast Point, 15 Least and a Wilson’s Storm-Petrel at the Nine Mile Bank, a Flesh-footed Shearwater at the Bell Bank 130+ n. miles offshore,  42 Buller’s Shearwaters, 113 Long-tailed Jaegers, 5 South Polar Skua, a Cook’s Petrel (or two), 4 Red-billed Tropicbirds between the Bell Bank and the Dumping Grounds, 49 Ashy and 350 (3 subspecies) of Leach’s Storm-Petrels and 14 Black-footed Albatrosses

Marine Mammals and fish highlights: 30+ Guadalupe Fur Seals and 78 Whales including Baird’s Beaked, Bryde’s, Minke, Fin, Blue, Humpbacks.   Also:  25 Risso’s, 20 Elephant Seals, Basking & Blue Sharks, Mola, Swordfish, Albacore, thousands of Saury, hundreds of Green Darners, a small  army of Common Dolphin and 75 Pacific White-sided.

The 95-foot live-aboard Searcher departed San Diego’s Fisherman’s Landing on a sunny, warm Labor Day afternoon, bound for a 5-day pelagic expedition through the Channel Islands, over deep water canyons and along the continental shelf-edge.  A Black Storm-Petrel was spotted by Todd McGrath as soon as Searcher entered San Diego Harbor. A San Diego County Wilson’s Storm-Petrel and Long-tailed Jaeger were happy surprises as we moved north along the Nine Mile Bank.

Of great delight to our many out-of-state participants were the southern subspecies of Xantus’s Murrelet (hypoleucus),  36 Cassin’s Auklets, a Pigeon Guillemot, Northern Fulmar, 1100+ Pink-footed Shearwater, 200+ Sooty Shearwater, 1300+ Red Phalarope, 35 molting Pom Jaegers, 6 Parasitic Jaegers, 2 Sabine’s Gulls and 110 Arctic Terns.

Participants had plenty of opportunity to study 3 races of Leach’s Storm-Petrels totaling 300+ individuals,  including (a) the nominate (O. l. leucorhoa) which breeds in the North Pacific from Alaska to California; (b) the southern breeding (mainly the Coronados and San Benito Islands) “Chapman’s” race (O.l. chapmani); and (c) the summer-breeding Guadalupe Island (Mexico) race, “Townsend’s” (O. l. socorroensis) that some authorities believe should be elevated to full species status.

Tuesday morning pre-dawn found us about ten miles south of Anacapa Island with a Lesser Nighthawk circling Searcher and more than 100 Green Darner dragonflies onboard.  We added lost Yellow and Wilson’s Warblers, a swift, 2 Lesser Yellowlegs and 5 Cowbirds to our list.
During Tuesday in the northern Channel Islands we saw a Pigeon Guillemot, 32 Cassin’s Auklets, hundreds of shearwaters and phalaropes, 13 Common Terns, 4 Pelagic Cormorants, 142 Black and 49 Ashy Storm-Petrels, 9 jaegers and a Skua.

Tuesday’s mammals and fish included 20 Elephant Seals, 110 Common Dolphin, 25 Risso’s Dolphins, 9 Humpback, a “slinky” Minke Whale and 3 Blue Whales plus two Blue Sharks.  We also a good close-up of the fin of an enormous Basking Shark.  These critters can grow to be 30 feet!  It’s distinctive large, broad dorsal fin poked out of the water.  There’s no risk of humans being attacked by monstrous Basking Sharks because similar to whale sharks and manta rays they’re filter feeders.  Instead of swimming after their lunch, Basking Sharks just open their cavernous mouths and swim forward. Comb-like structures called “gill rakers” filter tasty meals of krill and zooplankton, similar to how baleen whales filter food.

Wednesday morning we rolled over the 948 spot (affectionately known to L.A. birders as “Mitch’s Bank”) 45 miles west of Point Conception.  Pre-dawn and dawn brought 6 lost Yellow Warblers, 2 lost Cowbirds, 2 lost Wilson’s Warblers and lost 2 Common Yellowthroat and our first two Black-footed Albies.  Fun birds throughout the day included 15 Buller’s Shearwaters, 2 Sabine’s Gulls, 4 Xantus’s Murrelets (hypoleucus) and 3 subspecies of Leach’s Storm-Petrel including a Townsend’s, 60 Chapman’s and 224 “nominates.”  Our course south towards the San Juan Seamount was in the heart of the migration corridor for Arctic Terns (91) and their nemesis, Long-tailed Jaegers (93!).

Wednesday’s mammals and fish included a pod of 8 Baird’s Beaked Whales in the same area as we had seen 4 pods from Grande on 17 August.  We also saw 14 Mola Mola, 2 more Blue Sharks, 2 Albacore, 7 Guadalupe Fur Seals, 31 Fin Whales, 2 Blue Whales and 10 Humpback Whales.

Thursday morning we woke up at the 2000 fathom line (2 miles deep!) about 35 miles north of the western edge of the Bell Bank.  En route to the feature we San Diego birders call “Matt’s Bank” (at the western edge of the Bell Bank) we encountered a FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER.  The Bell Bank is nearly as far south as one can get in the ABA – 110 miles wsw of Ensenada, Baja, Mexico – but still in U.S. waters due to a zig-zagging international boundary out into the ocean.

During the day, Dave Povey’s never-ending chum slick attracted 9 more Black-footed Albatrosses which we enjoyed flying around the boat in varying numbers until dusk.  We sailed over the north edge of the Bell Bank and turned Searcher on a northwest course towards the old Munitions Dumping Grounds and San Diego.  Great birds along this route included 19 more Arctic Terns accompanied by an equal number of Long-tailed Jaegers, a COOK’S PETREL and 4 RED-BILLED TROPICBIRDS (Searcher specialties).  This was THE day for Guadalupe Fur Seals: 28.