Pelagic Trip Report:
Saturday, September 22, 2001
Newport, Oregon, out 32 miles to Perpetua Bank
8-hours

We saw most of the likely species on Saturday, September 22, 2001, despite the fog that stayed with us all day except near shore on the return to port. Calm, windless, seas let us see more of the things under the water. The highlight of this particular trip was the high number of Blue Sharks. There were 3 or 4, at the chum spot that were 5-6 feet long; most were about 3-4 feet long. We saw dorsal fin/tail combinations throughout our trip. The sharks chased the fulmars around at the chum stop, while the albatrosses did a little swimming dance when the sharks would bump their feet. The albatrosses also gave the sharks a few pecks on the nose as they competed for fat trimmings and fish carcasses. The albatrosses played tug-of-war with each other, but the sharks almost always ended up with the larger pieces of chum. Also at the chum stop was a school of about 10 "baby" Ocean Sunfish--all about frying pan sized.

Yaquina Bay:
7 Pelagic Cormorant
30 Double-crested Cormorant
2 Great Blue Heron
1 Black Turnstone
5 Heermann's Gull
15 California Gull
40 Western Gull
3 Glaucous-winged Gull
5 Common Murre
45 Rock Dove
2 Belted Kingfisher
7 Harbor Seal
25 California Sea Lion

Nearshore:
15 Sooty Shearwater
58 Pelagic Cormorant
46 Brandt's Cormorant
5 White-winged Scoter
2 phalarope (sp.)
45 Heermann's Gull
36 California Gull
42 Western Gull
324 Common Murre
7 Pigeon Guillemot
4 Marbled Murrelet
3 Rhinoceros Auklet

Travel 3-30 miles offshore (out/back):
4 Black-footed Albatross
8 Northern Fulmar
251 Sooty Shearwater
5 Buller's Shearwater
80 Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel
4 Pelagic Cormorant
4 Brandt's Cormorant
3 Red-necked Phalarope
4 phalarope (sp.)
1 South Polar Skua
4 Parasitic Jaeger
3 Parasitic/Pomarine Jaeger
17 Heermann's Gull
5 California Gull
26 Western Gull
1 Glaucous-winged Gull
2 Sabine's Gull
1 Arctic Tern
625 Common Murre
4 Pigeon Guillemot
6 Cassin's Auklet
10 Rhinoceros Auklet
18 Blue Shark
3 Ocean Sunfish
1 Harbor Seal
1 Harbor Porpoise

Chum, 32 nm off Yachats:
18 Black-footed Albatross
17 Northern Fulmar
2 Sooty Shearwater
5 Pink-footed Shearwater
2 Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel
1 Parasitic Jaeger
1 Sabine's Gull
10 Ocean Sunfish
35 Blue Shark