24 March 2001

Newport, Oregon, to Perpetua Bank (32 miles off Yachats), then offshore to deep water about 45 miles. 6:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Highlight: Short-tailed Albatross begging popcorn at point blank range!

Trip leaders: Tim Shelmerdine and Tom Snetsinger

Tim's overview: "We had a very good pelagic trip today, even though with deteriorating weather conditions, we could not spend as much time outside of Perpetua Bank. We made it out to about 45 miles, scanned a feeding flock of birds and had to head back in without cruising for Pterodromas or chumming [in deep water]."

Trip list and numbers: nearshore (to 3 miles), 3-30 miles, chum stop at Perpetua Bank, 32-45 miles offshore, return to port, total.

Black-footed Albatross      0,   1, 52, 20, 28 =  101
LAYSAN ALBATROSS            0,   0,  1,  0,  0 =    1
SHORT-TAILED ALBATROSS      0,   0,  1,  0,  0 =    1
Northern Fulmar             1,  15, 70, 45, 40 =  171
Pink-footed Shearwater      0,   0,  1,  1,  0 =    2
Sooty Shearwater            0,   4,  2, 15,  8 =   29
Short-tailed Shearwater     0,   0,  1,  2,  0 =    3
LEACH'S STORM-PETREL        0,   0,  0,  1,  0 =    1
Brandt's Cormorant         50,   0,  0,  0,  0 =   50
Pelagic Cormorant          10,   0,  0,  0,  0 =   10
White-winged Scoter        17,   0,  0,  0,  0 =   17
Surf Scoter                20,   0,  0,  0,  0 =   20
Black Oystercatcher         2,   0,  0,  0,  0 =    2
Mew Gull                    0,   2,  0,  0,  0 =    2
Herring Gull                0,   2,  0,  0,  0 =    2
Western Gull                0,  20, 11,  0,  0 =   31
Glaucous-winged Gull        0,   4,  0,  0,  0 =    4
Gl.-winged x Western Gull   0,  10,  0,  0,  0 =   10
Bonaparte's Gull            0,   0,  1,  0,  0 =    1
Black-legged Kittiwake      0,  21,  9, 20,  0 =   50
Common Murre              350, 875,  0,  0, 12 = 1237
Pigeon Guillemot           10,   0,  0,  0,  0 =   10
Cassin's Auklet             0,   0,  0,  1,  0 =    1
alcid (sp)                  0,   0,  0,  5,  2 =    7
Marbled Murrelet            2,   0,  0,  0,  0 =    2
Ancient Murrelet            0,   6,  0,  0,  0 =    6
Rhinoceros Auklet          20,   0,  8, 44, 60 =  132

California Sea Lion (bay)
Harbor Seal (bay)
Northern Fur Seal 1
Gray Whale 6
Dall's Porpoise 6
Pacific White-sided Dolphin 5

Birds in Yaquina Bay
Common Loon
Red-necked Grebe
Pelagic Cormorant
Brandt's Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
White-winged Scoter
Surf Scoter
Cooper's Hawk
Surfbird
Black Turnstone
Pigeon Guillemot
Mew Gull
Western Gull
GLAUCOUS GULL (one observer)
Rock Dove
European Starling

Tim's comments about the Short-tailed Albatross: "We had chummed for an hour, but the number of albatrosses was still increasing, many apparently being drawn over from a distant trawler. So I told everyone that we were getting new birds and we should chum a little longer. Shortly after that Phil Kline yelled out: "Albatross with a pink bill!" Sure enough, an immature Short-tailed Albatross was cutting behind the stern of the boat, perhaps 30 yards away. It flew to a position about 150 yards off the starboard side of the boat and settled down in a flock of feeding albatrosses.... I took some pictures at a distance, then realized the bird was slowly drifting towards the boat.... It gave everyone great views, coming within netting distance to the stern of the boat."

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