The weather gods finally smiled on us and Oregon Pelagic Tours hit a decent weather window and was able to complete our 10-hour pelagic on September 25. We faced dense fog early, but after a couple of hours, it cleared, and we were able to travel down to Lane County, much to the delight of those participants looking to add pelagic birds to their Lane County list. Ocean conditions were decent for most, but there was enough swell to make trip very uncomfortable for about a third of the passengers -- I suspect the fog obscuring the horizon line was a major factor for most of those individuals. Highlights were 5 species of shearwater, including the elegant BULLER'S, 1 FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER (in Lincoln County, to the disappointment of many), and SHORT-TAILED SHEARWATER, BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS, several SOUTH POLAR SKUAS, PARASITIC and LONG-TAILED JAEGERS (one possible Pomarine), great views of FORK-TAILED STORM-PETRELS, and numerous SABINE'S GULLS. Mammal highlights included several humpback whales, and quite a few northern fur seals, including one curious, young female who stayed close to the boat for a long time. You can see a photo of her on the Oregon Pelagic Tours Facebook page. Remaining trips for 2021 set to go out on October 9 (wait list), October 24 (wait list) and December 4 (spaces available).
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