Monday, October 28, 2019

October 26 pelagic -- weathered out

Well, it happens sometimes. You set up a pelagic months in advance, and then the weather just does not cooperate. Sometimes the decision to cancel is straightforward -- the ocean and or weather conditions are bad enough that even the charter says "nope". Sometimes the Coast Guard makes the decision for you, closing the bar. And sometimes we have to make our best decision for our passengers. Conditions for Saturday were for winds up to 16 kts, which is very doable in our boats. The forecast also called for swells of 9 ft, with wind waves of 5 ft. The boat movement would have been extreme, making a trip not only dangerous for all participants, but also making watching birds very difficult, if not impossible. In the face of those conditions, we decided we had no reasonable choice but to cancel. 

Friday, October 18, 2019

What have we been seeing this fall?

This post is way overdue. Oregon Pelagic Tours has been running a series of exciting pelagic trips this fall, and I am going to share some of our notable sightings.
Birdwise, the highlight of the fall has to be the very cooperative HAWAIIAN PETREL that come into our chum slick on our 12 hour deepwater trip on August 24. This is the third sighting on an Oregon Pelagic Tours deepwater pelagic (2 in the fall, one in the spring). 

Other notable bird sightings:
Laysan Albatross 8/18, 10/6
Buller's Shearwater: 8/18, 8/24, 9/14, 9/22, 10/6, 10/12
Flesh-footed Shearwater 9/14
Short-tailed Shearwater 10/6
South Polar Skua 8/24, 9/22, 10/6
Red-breasted Nuthatch 10/6 (first for OPT -- landed on a passenger and a guide) 

Mammals: 
Baird's beaked whale   5 on 8/24/19   
Blue whale   1 on 10/6/19
Fin whales   up to 15 on 10/12/19
Risso's dolphin   6 on 10/12/19
Northern elephant seal  2 on 10/12/19

Great sightings so far in 2019!