On 12 May, a group of birders were aboard the Grand Princess on the first full
day of our San Francisco to southeast Alaska and back round-trip. This cruise
goes direct from SF to Juneau, thus goes through deep, very offshore waters--to
the tune of 200 miles out off northern OR, WA, and s. BC. The day started at
dawn already 45 miles off Arcata and quickly headed NW even farther offshore
and entered OR waters just two hours later. Much of the time spent way off
Oregon is over level "abyssal plain" waters, so overall diversity and numbers
(except for the ubiquitous Leach's Storm-Petel) is often--but not
always--fairly limited. Species seen in numbers closer to shore can be pretty
scarce this far out. Totals for the day were as follows:
LAYSAN ALBATROSS: 2+ (off Curry/Coos Cos., OR)
Black-footed Albatross: 19
Northern Fulmar: 1
MURPHY'S PETREL: 4 (2 Del Norte, 2 Curry)
HAWAIIAN PETREL: 2 (both Curry; about 75 miles offshore)
Pink-footed Shearwater: 3
Sooty Shearwater: 63
Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel: 1
Leach's Storm-Petrel: 545
Red-necked Phalarope: 3
Pomarine Jaeger: 1
Parasitic Jaeger: 10 (all adults; perhaps a surprisingly high total this far
offshore, with birds out to 140 miles)
Common Murre: 2
Rhinoceros Auklet: 5
Herring Gull: 1 (105 miles out)
Eurasian Collared-Dove: 5 (go! go! go!)
Savannah Sparrow: 1
--PAUL LEHMAN, San Diego
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