October 26 Weather Forced Cancellation

The Newport pelagic trip aboard Misty scheduled for Saturday, October 26 was canceled due to bad weather. The forecast for poor conditions remained unchanged from the five-day forecast on. High winds and high waves doth not a safe and fun pelagic make.

October 12 Pelagic Results

The October 12 pelagic out of Garibaldi bucked the weather forecast of strong winds and high swells offshore and enjoyed a very successful day on the ocean. After our trip preparation talk, we boarded the Alaska Sunrise a little after 7:00 am. Our boat crew was headed by Mick, who after a long career, would be making his last charter trip with us today. Our deckhand was his daughter, Tamara, one of the owners of Garibaldi Charters, and who was making her first trip with Oregon Pelagic Tours. Our trip out the bay provided the usual suspects: grebes, gulls and cormorants, although a group of Sanderlings on the Barview Jetty was not typical. On the ocean, we did have some large swells, but overall the trip was not too bad for most passengers. We made it to 23 miles offshore, did two chum stops, the first being very productive, with both Black-footed and Laysan Albatrosses (one of the latter) coming in. Two albatross days, while not guaranteed, are no longer a surprise on our trips. We had very low numbers of jaegers and no skua, just a few Sabine's Gulls, but otherwise did see most of the expected species, including four species of shearwaters (Sooty, Pink-footed, Buller's and Short-tailed). The avian highlight was coming across 2 pairs of Scripps's Murrelets, the last pair giving everyone a decent view. Marine mammal numbers were low, but we did have a possible fin whale early on, several humpback whales (one breach!)  and a large, distant pod of Dall's porpoises. It was a nice day to be on the ocean, and an honor to be part of Captain Mick's last day as a charter skipper.

Looking forward to this Saturday's Garibaldi trip!

While it was very disappointing not to get enough sign-up to run our 8-hour Newport pelagic on October 6, we are very excited to have a full boat for the 8-hour Garibaldi pelagic on October 12. With the weather forecasted to be good, we are anticipating a great trip! We will post the results after the trip on eBird, and mention highlights here and on the Oregon Pelagic Tours Facebook page.

October 6 Trip Cancellation

Unfortunately, we were unable to generate sufficient interest to run this trip and were forced to cancel. Our agreement with the charter requires us to give them enough warning to reschedule their boats for a fishing trip in the event we cancel on our end. Minimum sign-up for a Newport trip is 23 passengers, and we were 9 shy of that number. We regret the inconvenience that this cancellation may have caused. 

September 15 Garibaldi Pelagic -- another good day on the Pacific

A group of 16 birders (14 guests and 2 guides) met at the Garibaldi Marina on Sunday, September 15. Having turned in the waivers that Garibaldi Charters requires, we introduced the guides, discussed our birding plans for the day, and talked about strategies for getting the most out of our time on the ocean.
Having done this, we walked down to our boat, Alaska Sunrise, met Skipper Curtis and Deckhand Terry., had the mandatory safety talk, and then headed out. A lone Red-necked Phalaope as we left the marina area paddled around and was still in the same spot on our return. Tillamook Bay always has a lot of birds on the way out, including all three cormorants, gulls and pelicans, but the highlight for some was probably the Surbirds and turnstomes near the Coast Guard station. A rain squall in the bay did not do much to dampen the enthusiasm of our crew, although we did wonder if it was going to be a wet day -- fortunately we only had one more squall later, however we did have spray on our return.
The ocean was a little bumpy, but not too bad. We had loons and scoters as soon as we entered the ocean, and we started seeing Sooty Shearwaters very quickly. We had them with us most of the day, along with Short-tailed Shearwaters at different times. Good views of the latter species helped us solve this difficult and underrated identification problem. Jaegers proved a little elusive, with some birds being too distant or briefly viewed to be conclusively identified. We did have views of both Parasitic and Pomarine Jaegers, but South Polar Skuas gave us some brilliant views, including one bird which flew over the stern of the boat. We traveled out to 21 miles offshore, where we found a shrimping boat. We hung around nearby for a couple of hours, doing two chum stops and carefully checking out the birds following the shrimper, which attracted Pink-footed Shearwaters, Black-footed Albatross one, Laysan Albatross, Northern Fulmar, a few well-seen Short-tailed Shearwaters, two Rhino Auklets (!) and a blue shark. We did see most of the expected seabird species, but perhaps not going as far offshore kept us from seeing any Arctic Terns or Long-tailed Jaeger, and allowed us only a few Sabine's Gulls, along with low numbers of Buller Shearwaters. Alcid numbers were also lower than expected. Winds were expected to increase greatly as the afternoon progressed, and there was radio chatter about the Tillamook Bar conditions deteriorating, so the skipper made the prudent decision to head in a little early. Despite this, we had a good trip, and there were many smiling faces as we tied up to the dock at the end of the day.

September 7 Newport Pelagic -- Trip Report

This trip report was written by Dave Irons, guide. Enjoy this detailed description. 
On Saturday,  7September 2024, 33 of us (4 guides and 29 participants) enjoyed another fabulous day of sea birding aboard the "Misty" out of Newport. In advance of this eight-hour trip, the offshore forecasts had a few of us worried that we might be in for a bumpy ride with washing machine-like sea conditions. We ended up being pleasantly surprised by a very manageable mixed bag of swells and wind waves, which seemed to change about every hour or so over the course of our voyage. As is typically the case when inland temps have been in the high 90's and above, a heavy marine layer and some locally dense fog and fog drizzle greeted us when we arrived on the outer coast just before dawn. Thankfully, we did not have to endure heavy fog or any rain once we left port. The winds and wind waves were modest, and spray was less of an issue than some of us had anticipated. During the trip back to port the ocean laid down to near flat calm and the sun finally broke through. During exceptionally smooth sailing a catnap or two may have been taken. 
We started out by cruising the nearshore waters just south of the jetties looking for Marbled Murrelets and were not disappointed. We found numerous pairs, that included getting to hear a loudly begging chick. We tallied 18 murrelets (a great count) during the 10-15-minute span before we started motoring westward. Pigeon Guillemots were even more abundant inshore and were in view no matter which direction one looked. All that I saw were juveniles, suggesting that breeding success was good this summer. Our total of 26 on the first offshore checklist was surely a significant undercount. Rhinoceros Auklets were in abundance as well, foretelling a day that would be rich with Alcids. Our first small groups of Red-necked Phalaropes were on the water just offshore and we continued to run into modest flocks throughout the day. Only a few Red Phalaropes were picked out, and none were seen particularly well. 
As we headed out into the open ocean, we started encountering Sooty Shearwaters almost right away and continued to enjoy lots more Rhino Auklets, Common Murres, and Pigeon Guillemots. Eventually a few Pink-footed Shearwaters entered the mix, ultimately replacing Sooty as the most numerous shearwaters as we got farther offshore. We also began to run into small groups of Cassin's Auklets and continued to see them in small flocks of up to 15 birds over the next several hours. Remarkably, our first jaeger/skua of the day was a South Polar Skua that Jim Danzenbaker spotted sitting on the water. It took flight and provided reasonable views for most on the boat. We would find another skua just a few minutes later that was really close to the boat, serving up even better views and great photo opportunities. 
Overall, jaegers were surprisingly few, as evidenced by the fact that South Polar Skua was far and away the most numerous (4 birds) identified Sterocorarid. Otherwise, we had only one Parasitic Jaeger and would have missed Pomarine Jaeger had it not been for the subadult that we found using a young California Gull as a punching bag just a few miles out on our way back to port. A handful of distant jaegers went unidentified to species. We were utterly stunned to find zero Long-tailed Jaegers. What made the absence of Long-taileds so confounding was the almost constant presence of Arctic Terns and Sabine's Gulls during the middle section of the trip (20-32 miles offshore). Arctic Tern in particular seems to be a favored target of Long-tailed Jaegers looking to make some bird gack up its lunch, with Sabine's Gull running a close second. When you find fall flocks of Arctic Terns and Sabine's Gulls, Long-tailed Jaegers are almost always nearby. 
The Arctic Tern and Sabine's Gull show as one of the trip highlights. On most early fall trips both species will be seen in modest numbers, typically in small and somewhat distant flocks that are on the move. Yesterday was quite the opposite. Both species appeared in strong numbers, with many making close approaches that allowed everyone aboard to get great studies of these beautiful birds. I personally cannot remember a trip with so many up-close looks at Arctic Terns. Late in the day, we had a Common Tern fly past the front of the boat, and it stood out as different and instantly recognizable as such after all the great views of Arctic Terns. Normally, even the most experienced observers have to work to be certain of their identifications when sorting out "Commic" Terns. On the day we saw well over 100 Arctic Terns and at least 75 Sabine's Gulls.
In recent weeks, warmwater offshore currents have been pushing water temperatures up into the low 60'sF and even into the "tuna water" range–generally 65F and above–off Oregon. Several species of birds typically found only well to the south of us will follow these warmer currents northward. One of these most expected wanderers is Scripp's Murrelet, a small, slender black-and-white Alcid normally found off NW Mexico and southern California. During our 25 August trip we found three Scripp's and yesterday we had at least four more that were close enough for good views and photos, plus another pair of fly-by alcids that a couple of the guides suspected to be Scripps's Murrelets. Seeing these birds off Oregon is a rare treat. Prior to our two most recent trips, it had been six fall seasons since Scripp's was last seen during a conventional pelagic trip off of Oregon. Incredibly, a single Scripp's Murrelet was found inside the Columbia River mouth near Warrenton last week. Much farther offshore, research vessels have been recently finding Guadalupe Murrelets–even rarer this far north–in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia waters. Formerly, Guadalupe and Scripps's were considered subspecies under the heading of "Xantus's Murrelet," but they were split into separate species in 2012.  
We enjoyed a nice mix of tubenoses but unfortunately none that was out of the ordinary. Once we were about 15 miles offshore Pink-footed replaced Sooty as the most abundant shearwater species. We had a smattering of (fewer than 10) Buller's Shearwaters, with a couple of those coming right past the boat for spectacular views. We only tracked down two drag trawlers, neither of which was attracting the sort of albatross escorts that we witnessed two weeks ago. We saw fewer than 50 Black-footed Albatrosses and no big flocks. Conversely, Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels put on a great show with well over 100 seen, including a flock of about 35 that flushed off the water right in front of boat early in the day. Throughout the middle part of the day storm-petrels (all Fork-tailed) seemed to be almost constantly in view with many close approaches to the boat. I'm sure some of our participants got scalding photos. On the way back to port when the ocean was glassy and near flat, we found multiple large groups (100-200 birds) of mostly Sooty Shearwaters sitting on the water. Try as we might to cull a Flesh-footed or Manx from these flocks, we came away empty-handed. We had a couple of Short-tailed Shearwater candidates, and participant photos may reveal that we did have one or two, but none of the guides saw anything we could confidently call out as a Short-tailed. Sooty v. Short-tailed Shearwater is one of the most challenging identifications we North American birders face.  
In addition to birds, there are lots of other marine creatures that we enjoy seeing, with whales usually getting top billing. It's hard to imagine that anyone aboard yesterday would tell you any of birds or other creatures we saw outperformed the Humpback Whale that came completely out of the water about 300 yards from the boat. The capacity of these mammoth creatures to generate the speed required to jump entirely out of the water seems to defy physics. Just a few seconds later this playful leviathan blasted up out of the water again, this time with a half twist, exposing its huge ventral fins just before is crashing back into the water. We spotted several distant whale spouts that appeared to be humpbacks, and had a closer pod of about 6-7 more that spouted a bunch of times before one-by-one they sounded.
Other marine mammals included a single Minke Whale seen by some of the participants late in the trip, multiple pods dolphins/porpoises that included at least one group of Dall's Porpoises, a group of Pacific White-sideed Dolphins, a few scattered harbor porpoises near shore, and some distance splashing pods that went unidentified. We saw lots of fur seals (presumed Northern) laying on the surface holding their fins in the tell-tail "jug handle" pose and many sea lions and harbor seals as well. Blue sharks were again in abundance on this trip, although we did not see quite as many as we did on 25 August.  
One of the things we discussed before leaving the docks was the possibility that we might have a passerine or two while at sea. When persistent east winds and high temps inland generate heavy coastal fog, as has been the case over the past several days, migrant songbirds often get disoriented during nocturnal migrations and find themselves well offshore when dawn breaks. Sadly, many never make it back to shore before becoming exhausted and perishing at sea. Often times these weary birds will land on boats and sometimes its passengers. Given the conditions, we expected to see multiple songbirds offshore and were almost surprised to have only one passerine fly by the boat yesterday. This bird never landed, but after initially flying away from the boat it circled back close enough to be identified, with the help of photos, as a Black-throated Gray Warbler. Past Oregon Pelagic Tours trips have encountered a variety of passerines, but this seems to be a new species to add to the long list of birds we've found over the years.
All in all, another fun and fruitful day, especially for the 7-8 aboard who were doing their first pelagic trip. Hopefully, yesterday's experience will have them yearning for more. We have several more scheduled trips this year, culminating with our annual early December trip which has traditionally provided the best chance to see Short-tailed Albatross. All have open spaces available. We hope some of you can join us.  

August 25th Trip Report (12 hour pelagic)

 Our longest trip of the fall season, the August 25th 12-hour pelagic out of Newport, experienced amazing conditions and excellent birding. A delay at the dock caused our boat (Misty, with Skipper Rob Waddell) to leave a little later than planned, but that was about the only negative of the day during our only 12-hour trip of the year. The ocean was as calm as the NE Pacific Ocean gets in August for most of the day and the winds were light, providing very pleasant conditions, even allowing people to shed their jackets and rain pants. 
We detoured for flocks of birds on our way out to 43 miles offshore, and stopping at a couple of groups of fishing draggers. Early chum stops were not particularly effective, an artifact of the light winds, but we did run across most of our species while traveling, including 3 Scripps's Murrelets, a species we do not find every year. Sabine's Gulls and Arctic Terns were present in migration, which in turn meant we had numerous great views of Long-tailed Jaegers. A few Common Terns mixed with the Arctics allowed us to practice our "Commic Tern" indentification skills. Jaegers showed nicely, giving us all three plus a couple of South Polar Skuas. We had good views of numerous auklets in the flat waters, with Cassin's outnumbering Rhinos by more than 2 to 1. We enjoyed good numbers of tubenoses offshore, and the 99 Buller's Shearwaters is a higher number than usual. Coming across a huge flock of Black-footed Albatross, we found 7 Laysan Albatross mixed in -- 5 in one binocular view at one time. Examination of bands determined that at least some of these birds were from the breeding colonies off Mexico. Along the jetty on the return to the dock, we managed a Wandering Tattler, a bird usually found once or twice a season. All in all, it was a beautiful day on the ocean, and guides and passengers left the boat very contented.

August 18 Pelagic Canceled by Boat Skipper

It happens. It stinks, but it happens. We get enough people to run a profitable trip, get the chum and everything read to go, have what we think is a favorable weather forecast, and then get blindsided  by worsening weather/ocean conditions and a cancellation the day before the trip. 
There are times when the charter office and I have concerns about the weather, and we discuss the situation before arriving at a mutual decision on whether or not to go. 
Other times, the skipper or the charter office makes the decision unilaterally. The skipper has the ultimate responsibility for the safety of everyone on their boat, and therefore has absolute control over when or if their boat goes out. Their decision is the final word, and no amount of arguing or wishing will change a decision to cancel. 
No one likes a cancellation. The charter loses money, the crew doesn't get paid, we don't get paid, and every participant loses what they have spent on travel. However, safety rules. If there is any concern whatsoever about a trip being safe, it cannot go. The skipper was out on the ocean on Saturday, didn't like the condtions that day, the weather forecast worsened, and made the decision that our trip would not be safe. This happens at least once a season, so for those of us who do this regularly, it is not entirely unexpected. But it is always disappointing, and for those people who have spent a lot of money and traveled a long distance, it is a huge blow. Hopefully, they understand that the decision was made with their best interests in mind. 

 

August, September and October Pelagics

If you have never seen the long wings of an albatross guiding toward the boat (or even if you have), you should make it a priority to come out on one of our trips. Oregon Pelagic Tours is excited to start our 10th year of offering pelagic trips off Oregon. We are off to a good start on two of our first three trips, as our 8-hour trips on August 18 (Garibaldi) and September 7 (Newport) are full and waitlist only. Our August 25 12-hour Deepwater Pelagic (Newport) can definitely use more participants to be sure of going out. This trip is one of our most exciting trips, because although the overall number of  seabirds is not always as high as on other trips, it has the potential for rare birds as we attempt to reach deep water beyond the continental shelf.  Hawaiian Petrel has been seen twice on this trip. If twelve hours seems too long, then our 8-hour September 15 (Garibaldi), October 6 (Newport), October 12 (Garibaldi) , and October 26 (Newport) trips all have spaces available. Hope to see you on the Pacific this fall! 

2025 Spring Repo Cruise Date Set!

We have received several inquiries about future cruises after our successful repositioning cruise this spring aboard Sapphire Princess. Heeding this interest, Oregon Pelagic Tours has set the date for our repositioning cruise next spring. Join Tim, Russ and Leisyka aboard the Zaandam as we depart San Diego on May 3, travel over to beautiful Catalina Island, then have two days of pelagic birding as we head north to Vancouver, B.C., arriving on May 7. More details to follow soon, including the name of our cruise consultant at Holland America. (Please wait to sign up with our consultant, as there are benefits to traveling as a group.)

June Updates

Tamara from Garibaldi Charters informed me that the 2 1/2 Three Arch Rocks NWR ecotours sign-ups are doing well, and she thinks it likely some of the four may sell out. See the OPT Schedules page for dates, but conatct Garibaldi Charters to sign up. 

Oregon Pelagic Tours has an agreement with our charter office partners that if we cancel a trip due to lack of interest, we will do so no later than three weeks before the trip. This allows the charter to use the boat for other trips, such as fishing. So when our newest offering, the July 13 six-hour trip from Newport, only had three paid pasengers about a month before its scheduled sailing, the decision was made to cancel this trip. While there were other passengers who said they wanted to go, paid passengers guarantee a sailing. Moral of the story: anyone who is serious about going on a specific trip should commit with a payment as soon as convenient. 

The next three trips (8/18 Garibaldi, 8/25 Newport Deepwater, 9/7 Newport) are all about halfway to making their boat costs. Given that Oregon Pelagic Tours passengers have a history of signing up later, I am still hopeful all three of these will go. 

We hope that you will be joining us this season on the ocean! 

Repo Cruise (Personal) Aboard Nieuw Amsterdam

I just got off the Nieuw Amsterdam on Sunday (4/27), having enjoyed a repositioning cruise. Because of the stops on the itinerary, we had two sea days. I was traveling with a friend and chose to limit my birding, but still had a great trip -- highlights included 113 Leach's Storm-Petrels, 53 Murphy's Petrels, and 1 Cook's Petrel. I am looking forward to the Oregon Pelagic Tours guided repositioning cruise on Sapphire Princess, May 7-11. Spots are still available, but you'd have to move fast to contact me.

WOS Pelagics, April 26 and 27: One going, one canceled

The pelagics arranged for the Washington Ornithological Society on Friday, April 26 and Saturday, April 27 have a mixed result. Friday's pelagic reached full status relatively quickly, while Saturday's pelagic did not register enough passengers to even get halfway to the minimum number needed to run the trip. With less than two weeks to go, we had to cancel the pelagic and release the boat's availability back to the charter office. Never a decision to make lightly, some trips just do not get enough sign-up to justify the great expense of chartering a boat, and I hope all participants attending the WOS Meeting find other enjoyable field trips and birding opportunities. 

OPT Update -- Repo Cruise, Ilwaco Tour and more

Oregon Pelagic Tours is poised for a great year, starting this month. We will be providing pelagics out of Ilwaco for the Washington Ornithological Society on April 26 and April 27. The Friday trip is full, but the Saturday trip has plenty of spaces. Cost will be $257 per person ($200 for WOS members attending the conference). Don't pass up this chance to do some pelagic birding in Pacific County, WA waters. 

The guided repositioning cruise with Russ and Tim aboard the Sapphire Princess May 7-11 from Los Angeles to Vancouver, B.C. has eight birders plus the guides. We will have three full days of ocean birding. Highlights are Murphy's Petrel (likely), and possibly Hawaiian and Cook's Petrels, as well as other species. We would be happy to have one or two more birders join us. 

This summer, in addition to our regular tours August through October, Oregon Pelagic Tours will be offering a short pelagic in July for those people who are not certain they want or are able to spend a full day on the ocean. This trip fits in well with summer vacations, and while not offering all the seabird diversity of our later trips, still offers a very good chance at seeing albatross. This trip will be Saturday, July 13, and will leave from Newport. 

And this year, we are again offering trips out of both Garibaldi and Newport. Book your trip today! 

Oregon Pelagic Tours Schedule Set

 Please go to the Schedule and Prices page to see our complete 2024 schedule. 

Besides our normal 8-hours trips out of Newport and Garibaldi, we offer the following special trips:

April 26-27  Ilwaco Pelagics for WOS Meeting (Meeting attendees only, please. This may change.)

May 7-11  Accompanied Cruise Ship birding on Sapphire Princess. LA to Vancouver. 

July 13  6-hour Newport Pelagic. Great for beginners, and we should still see albatross! 

August 25  Newport Deepwater Trip. A 12-hour pelagic heading out to the real "blue water". 

OPT to provide WOS Meeting pelagics this April

Oregon Pelagic Tours is happy to announce that we will provide two pelagics at the Washington Ornithological Society Annual Meeting this spring. The 8-hour pelagics will be offered on Friday, April 26 and Saturday, April 27, leaving from Ilwaco. Registration is currently open only to WOS meeting attendees. Cost will be $200 for adults, and $100 for young birders. Email Tim @ tim.oregonpelagictours@gmail.com for young birder defintion or with questions.  

Join Russ and a Tim for a Spring Repo Cruise!

Join experienced seabirders and Oregon Pelagic Tours guides Russ Namitz and Tim Shelmerdine on the Sapphire Princess May 7-11 for a guided repositioning cruise. Russ and Tim are among the most experienced seabirders on the West Coast and are familiar with all expected seabirds of the Northeastern Pacific (and many other parts of the world). 

On this cruise, we may see up to three species of pterodromas (Murphy's, Cook's and Hawaiian Petrels), two species of albatross, storm-petrels and more. Parakeet Auklet has been seen on other spring cruises. 

Our price of $300 for three days of birding is a great bargain. Compare with Wings at $525. To sign up, email Tim at tim.oregonpelagictours@gmail.com.