STORM PETRELS: The autumn Southern California 2009 pelagic season was a spectacular one for storm-petrels. Our October 3, 2009 trip found nearly 2000 Black and Least Storm-Petrels at the Nine Mile and Thirty Mile Banks. We also saw nearly 700 Common Terns and a dozen Sabine's Gulls. A South Polar Skua was spotted at the Nine Mile Bank on its way back to the South Pole. That incredible trip also logged 2 or 3 Blue Whales, Risso's and White-sided Dolphin and Elephant Seals.
A week later, on October 10, 2009, we recorded 8,000 Black Storm-Petrels and 1750 Least Storm-Petrels from Grande and enjoyed a close interaction with a Humpback Whale on the Nine Mile Bank -- all that after a Brown Booby shot over Grande just 5 miles off shore.
CRAVERI'S MURRELETS: This is an time of year and the perfect waters in which to see Craveri's Murrelet (see photo below). September and October are prime times to find this eluvise alcid, and the only place in ABA waters it can be found is off SoCal, notably San Diego. The September 2009 Searcher trip recorded a Craveri's Murrelet on the north end of the Nine Mile Bank. Four were well seen and photographed from Grande on Oct 4, 2008 (see photos by Steve Howell below). Glimpses of two elusive birds were had by a few from Grande on Oct 3, 2009.
This 12-hour day trip trip is longer in length to allow us plenty of time to hunt storm-petrels and murrelets. We'll depart Point Loma Sportfishing at 6:00 a.m. to explore the bird-rich Nine-mile Bank from the comfortable 85-foot live-aboard Grande. Then we'll head out further to the Thirty Mile Bank to see what strom-petrels and alcids are out there.
Pelagic birding is like any other kind of birding, regardless of what you have planned for the day, it's always best to go where the birds are. An aggregation of Black and Least Storm-Petrels like we saw in 2009 is rare anywhere north of the border. If we hadn't been doing these trips, who would have known? There is a possibility of seeing Least, Leach’s Ashy and Black Storm-Petrels and possibly rarer in San Diego waters on this trip.
We added 3 hours on to this trip to allow time to search for storm-petrels and get to the islands. This trip is slated to visit the Brown Booby colony on the Coronados Islands, however, it is possibly that we will remain in San Diego waters around the Nine and Thirty Mile Banks for the entire 12-hours if the leaders feel we have have good birding opportunities in U.S. waters.
On our way out of San Diego harbor we'll motor slowly by the live bait tank barges and the lounging sea lions, several hundred Brandt's cormorants, several species of gulls, and dozens of shorebirds, egrets and herons. On our way out of the harbor we'll check for oystercatchers amongst the cobbles of Ballast Point. At sea we expect to see two to four species of dolphins (Bottlenose, Common, Pacific White-sided and Risso's), whales and numerous seabirds including storm-petrels, phalarope, fulmars, shearwaters, auklets, murrelets and jaegers.
LEADERS will include pelagic birding & mammal experts including Paul E. Lehman and Mark J. Billings.
Check-in Time: 5:00 a.m.
Boarding Time: 5:30 a.m.
Departure Time: 6:00 a.m. sharp
Return: 6:00 p.m.
ADVANCE RESERVATIONS are $90 for this 12-hour pelagic trip.
EARLY BIRD reservations are $75 through September 21.
RESERVATIONS BY PHONE (Credit Card): Telephone Point Loma Sportfishing (the landing) seven days a week
at (619) 223-1627. Tell them to wish to make a reservation for a birding trip on Grande and give them the date of departure.
ON-LINE RESERVATIONS: Register On-Line. Past trip participants may enter your user name. New participants will be prompted to create a user name and password, then make your reservation for one or more "anglers" (the landing's website refers to customers - you - as anglers). If you have any questions, please telephone the landing at (619) 223-1627.
PAY IN FULL: Some fishing trips allow "anglers" to pay 50% at signup and the balance the day of the trip. Regardless of what the boiler-plate language on the site says, all birding trips require payment in full (even if the website or telephone rep gives you an option to pay 50%).
IMPORTANT DETAILS: Click for IMPORTANT INFORMATION about the boat, the landing, driving directions, maps, lodging, weather, refund and cancellation policies, on-board facilities, meals and snacks,
HOW TO PREPARE: Click for tips on how to prepare, what to wear, what to bring and when to arrive.
EXPECTED SPECIES: What we see depends on the season, the itinerary and how far from shore we venture. Learn more about what species we will probably see and what species might be seen.
CANCELLATION POLICY: Trips on this website are sponsored by different organizations using different boats departing from different landings and harbors. As such, policies vary from trip to trip. Prior to registering, please familiarize yourself the Grande and Point Loma Sportfishing's policies regarding reservations, cancellations, refunds and substitutions as well as reviewing driving directions, check-in times, procedures and equipment allowed on the boats.
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