Hello, Calbirders,
This is a report for Shearwater Journeys August 24, 2019 Monterey Bay pelagic trip. We had a fantastic day with calm seas and nearly non-stop seabirds. The most exciting seabird occurred during our return to Point Pinos at the end of the day when leader, Steve Tucker spotted a very distant booby.
An exhilarating chase to keep up with the booby which was often flying through the blows of humpback whales ensued. The booby made multiple passes directly over our bow, thanks to the skill of our captain. We saw it plunge-diving amongst the many feeding seabirds and whales. Many images were made. After reviewing the images, and with input from Peter Pyle and Todd McGrath, the identification is presumed MASKED BOOBY about 10 months of age.
It has been a great year for tropical boobies along the California coast, especially southern California. As we returned to the harbor, everyone was on high alert, hoping for a booby! And, it happened! Im sure this wont be the last booby sighted in Monterey this season.
In addition to the MASKED BOOBY, we found a good assortment of fall seabirds. Highlights included: BULLERS SHEARWATERS, ASHY STORM-PETRELS; POMARINE, PARASITIC, and LONG-TAILED JAEGERS; SABINES GULLS; RHINOCEROS AUKLETS; and a beautiful TUFTED PUFFIN. We saw many HUMPBACK WHALES, 2 traveling BLUE WHALES, RISSOS DOLPHINS, DALLS PORPOISE, and NORTHERN FUR SEALS.
EVEN SEAS: The sea surface temperature remained near 60 F throughout the day. So, although the flat-calm seas and the 60 F SST might tend to make one think that the conditions were good for finding Craveris, Scrippss, or Guadalupe Murrelets, this was not the case. Over my four decades of experience, finding these murrelets requires more than just warm water. Two additional conditions are needed: a temperature break and clear water. For instance, on our August 11th Half Moon Bay trip, the SSTs ran from 54 F to 58F over a short distance. And, the 58 F waters were clear. So, we had both a temp break and clear water. And, we found Scrippss Murrelets. Conversely, on this August 24th trip, we had pea soup green water, not clear at all. Of course, there will always be the odd exception, but in general, Ive observed that finding murrelets requires three things: 1. calmer seas, 2. temp break, and 3. clear water.
Our next trip with spaces available is FRIDAY, AUGUST 31 with leaders Christian Schwarz, Alex Rinkert, Jim Holmes, and Debi Shearwater. We will be spending time in Santa Cruz County , a hard county for ticking seabirds! Spaces are available.
The complete species list for AUGUST 24, 2019 SHEARWATER JOURNEYS MONTEREY BAY PELAGIC TRIP: All birds were recorded in Monterey County.
COMMON LOON- 1 BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 20 NORTHERN FULMAR- 15 PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 75 BULLERS SHEARWATER- 4 SOOTY SHEARWATER- 8500 ASHY STORM-PETREL- 26 ****MASKED BOOBY- 1 BROWN PELICAN- 80 BRANDTS CORMORANT- 500 DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT- 2 PELAGIC CORMORANT- 2 WESTERN SANDPIPER- 33 DOWITCHER SP.- 8 BLACK TURNSTONE- 2 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER- 2 RED-NECKED PHALAROPE- 125 RED PHALAROPE- 18 POMARINE JAEGER- 6 POMARINE/PARASITIC JAEGER- 4 PARASITIC JAEGER- 8 PARASITIC/LONG-TAILED JAEGER- 2 LONG-TAILED JAEGER- 9 JAEGER SP.- 10 HEERMANNS GULL- 40 CALIFORNIA GULL- 15 HERRING GULL- 1 WESTERN GULL- 100 SABINES GULL- 2 ELEGANT TERN- 40 COMMON MURRE- 550 PIGEON GUILLEMOT- 7 CASSINS AUKLET- 1 RHINOCEROS AUKLET- 70 *TUFTED PUFFIN- 1 SEA OTTER- + CALIFORNIA SEA LION- + NORTHERN FUR SEAL- 4 HARBOR SEAL- + BLUE WHALE- 2 HUMPBACK WHALE- 20 RISSOS DOLPHIN- 17 DALLS PORPOISE- 2 OCEAN SUNFISH- 1
Leaders on the August 24, 2019 trip included: Steve Tucker, Christian Schwarz, Alex Rinkert, Nick Levendosky, Will Brooks, and Debi Shearwater. Many thanks to the keen-eyed leaders and birders from near and far for making this trip possible.
Conditions on this August 24th trip were very different from our first trip on August 3rd where we encountered a strong red tide near shore, and very cold water (51 F, SST).
One thing we can be certain of conditions will change, again. Perhaps, well get some clearing of the high chlorophyll conditions and a temperature break. On the other hand, perhaps, the conditions were just right for the MASKED BOOBY!
Seabirding for Science, Debi Shearwater

DEBRA SHEARWATER Shearwater Journeys, Inc. PO Box 190 Hollister, CA 95024 831.637.8527 debi@... www.shearwaterjourneys.com www.shearwaterjourneys.blogspot.com
Celebrating 43 Years of Seabirding with Shearwater Journeys