Subject: South Padre Island pelagic results 19 July 08
Date: Sun, 20 Jul 2008 04:49:35 GMT
From: Brad McKinney
Good evening,
Up until the 11th hour, the cetaceans stole the show.
By lunchtime, the pelagic crew was treated to close-up views of both Risso's Dolphins and Short-finned Pilot Whales,
a real surprise. Despite the excellent birding conditions, with calm seas, light winds and blue oceanic water
within 15 miles of the coast, seabirds were hard to come by. Masked Boobies (9)
were numerous over shelf waters while Band-rumped Storm-Petrel (4)
numbers were below average for July.
We could find no large tuna schools, and therefore no Sooty/Bridled Tern flocks.
We had brief looks at an Audubon's Shearwater at noon.
On our final stretch, we encountered the bird of day.
At 5:00 pm, just 19 miles from the dock, a Greater Shearwater passes close by the boat.
Both the shearwater and a Pomarine Jaeger land on the water and allow the boat a close approach.
Moments later, the Greater Shearwater disappears and is quickly replaced by a Cory's Shearwater.
Just a typical day in the western Gulf of Mexico!
Seabirds and cetaceans are listed below.
Thanks to Eric Carpenter for organizing another successful pelagic trip.
There are still a few spots open for the September 2008 pelagic.
For those interested, please contact Eric at ecarpe@gmail.com.
