Pelagic Photos

Pomarine Jaeger at the Nine Mile Bank in San Diego County waters.



Elegant Terns. They range out surprisingly far into the ocean; we had one at least sixty miles offshore.



Fin Whale.



Sunset on the first day. Trust me, getting a photo with a horizontal horizon is no mean feat from a rocky boat.



Flying fish!



Black-footed Albatross. We had three of these wonderful birds following the boat all day Saturday.



Buller's Shearwaters were reasonable common well offshore.



Leach's Storm-Petrel.



During the slow periods, people would put a couple fishing lines off the back of the boat. We ended up with several fish, one of which was incorporated into Tuesday's day. Best fish I've ever tasted.



Wes Fritz, chummer extraordinaire.



Another Black-footed Albatross.



Common Tern.



Brown Booby. We encountered three Brown Boobies on this trip: one in Los Angeles County waters, one in Mexican waters, and most surprisingly, one in San Diego Harbor!



Brown Booby.



The Brown Booby in San Diego Harbor was a nice end to the trip!

The Deep Blue Sea

Earlier in the summer I signed up for a two-day pelagic trip out of San Diego run by Buena Vista Audubon. These long trips take you far out into the Pacific Ocean, out into the realm of petrels and albatrosses. John Garrett, Nora Papian and I departed Orange County in the early afternoon on Monday for the trip. I do not have much time to write, so I will just post a very brief report. I scored five lifers: Ashy Storm-Petrel, Leach's Storm-Petrel, Wilson's Storm-Petrel, Long-tailed Jaeger, and Arctic Tern. Other interesting pelagic birds we saw included Black-footed Albatross (photo at top of post), Brown Booby, Cassin's Auklet, Buller's Shearwater, and Pomarine Jaeger. We had some good non-bird sea life, including Fin and Blue Whales, Risso's and Common Dolphins, Flying Fish, and several species of fish that we caught.

I'll try to toss up some more photos later, though my schedule promises to be busy in the near future (school starts on Monday!)