Trip Report. Noyo Pelagics, 5, 7, & 8 September 2025
Twenty to 25 participants went out with captain Richard Thornton of Anchor Charters and Noyo Pelagics for two half day trips (Sep 5 and 8) and a full-day trip (Sep 7). These trips represented yet another example of, when it comes to pelagic trips, what a difference a day makes!
On the 5th, ocean conditions at Noyo Canyon were fabulous, with calm seas, no wind, and good visibility. Cloud cover made things monochromatic but the whales and other marine mammals really stood out on this “mammal-dedicated” trip. We saw many Pacific White-sided Dolphins, often coming to the boat and riding the bow wave, and sometimes leaping clear of the water. So many Humpback Whales were about we didn’t know which direction to look. We also had a very cute preening Northern Fur Seal, several California Sea Lions, a few Steller Sea Lions, and one Elephant Seal. The “mammalers” aboard were ecstatic with the day (and, in fact, with all three days).
Although it wasn’t specifically a birding trip, we did see some great birds. Best of all was a gorgeous adult Cocos Booby (formerly Brown Booby) that flew right past the bow, giving a few of us excellent looks before soaring off to the south. This is only the 3rd or 4th record for the Mendo coast and only the 5th or 6th record of any booby species here. With warm water invading our coast (see below), we hope to see more this fall. There were thousands of Sooty Shearwaters and hundreds of Pink-footed Shearwaters, often in rafts on the water as it was an exceptionally calm day. Reviewing photos added a Buller’s and one Flesh-footed Shearwater sitting in a raft among Pink-footed and Sooties. We also saw two South Polar Skuas.
Cocos Booby. Photo: Roger Adamson
Tufted Puffin. Photo: Tim Bray
The full-day trip can only be described as amazing. Conditions were even calmer than on the 5th, the calmest many of us have ever seen off our coast, the ocean an absolute mirror. The sea surface temps were a tropical-like (not really but seemingly, for here) 65- 67° F. One participant from Lakeport said it was like Clear Lake on a vey fine day, and we started looking for Western and Clark’s Grebes. We took the opportunity to go south to the Navarro Canyon and what we call “the abyss,” over the continental shelf to 10,000′ of water depth. This place has proven very productive in the past, but what was so amazing today was the LACK of birdlife out there.
Pretty much nothing, zippo, diddly-squat. The gulls and albatrosses scoffed at our attempts to chum them in. Despite some avid birders aboard being a bit disappointed, there were some silver linings. We had great looks at close Fin Whales, quick looks at a Minke Whale and an interesting cetacean, perhaps a Cuvier’s Beaked Whale, and great views of a confiding adult Tufted Puffin. The water was extremely clear, and as is typical in warm-water fall years, full of ctenophores and other cool stuff like “salp chains,” consisting of the hermaphroditic eggs of female salps. From a data-collection perspective the day was excellent, given the very high detection rates and identification accuracy probabilities at great range, used by seabird statisticians to calculate abundances. The conditions were also so pleasant that none aboard got tired or beat up by the afternoon, as we headed back to trusty old Noyo Canyon. All were in high spirits, catching up with old acquaintances and telling stories about sparser days than this one, in some of the fabled pelagic spots off our coast, to make us all not feel so bad.
Fin Whales over calm deep water. Photos: Peter Pyle
A highlight for many as we glided north, was seeing albacore tuna flipping out of the water here and there. We knew they were about as we were seeing a few “tuna birds,” aka Buller’s Shearwaters sallying around. We owe a lot to our captain Richard and his wife/deckhand Corrine, and sometimes it is great to return the favor. Birders spotted a Buller’s and some tuna ahead, so Richard stopped the boat, cast out a jig, and before we knew it we had a stunningly beautiful albacore on deck. Birders being birders, we all gobbled down the sashimi (with wasabi and soy, always handy in the scabbards) on the way back north.
Albacore, Corinne, and Richard. Photos: Peter Pyle and Sarah Grimes
When we got back to Noyo we found thousands of becalmed shearwaters sitting about, the same crowd seen there on the 5th. Despite much scrutinizing we could not visually locate anything other than Sooties and Pink-foots. But, yet again, the camera can speak louder than the eyes. I (PP) noticed a blacker shearwater than the others that did not compute, so I started clicking off frames. My best guess from reviewing the pics is a melanistic Sooty. Melanism happens in seabirds and shearwaters and, despite my trying quite hard to make it into something more intriguing from around the world (e.g., the bill is too short for a Heinroth’s Shearwater!), a melanistic Sooty is the safe call. Intriguing enough! The bonus to this was that, while I was clicking on the black shearwater, I noticed some smaller-billed
shearwaters in front of it, and since I was already clicking away I was able to confirm that they were Short-tailed Shearwaters by the bills and dark underwings as they took off. Interesting that these three were together (birds of a feather!) in the flock as there seemed to be no others among the 100s of Sooties. Here off Mendocino we seem to have led the charge on documenting Short-tailed Shearwaters in summer and early fall, as 1-2 are now being reported on almost every pelagic trip up and down the NorCal coast. The dogma of yore was that they only arrived here in late October or so, but, thanks to advanced digital cameras, we are now locating them among the hordes of Sooties in summer and throughout the year.
The 8th presented yet a different scene in Noyo Canyon. Dark rain clouds were looming offshore and the wind slowly picked up from the south through the morning, such that it was 15-20 knots or so for our slog back home. The sea-surface temperature dropped 5-7 degrees from the day before (to 61.5°), a tremendous change when it comes to our oceans. The wind is our friend, remember, and birds were everywhere again, along with the same pack of Humpback Whales that are now stationed here, breaching, flipperflapping, and cavorting about. Not only that, but, unlike on the previous two trips, chumming works in the wind, and we soon had a good flock of dozens of birds running behind the boat, scarfing down popcorn and bits of Black Cod. Many totals were higher on the 8th than on either of the previous trips, including those of all four jaeger species (a “skua slam,” or salami in some courts), including two more South Polar Skuas and yet another Long-tailed Jaeger within two miles of shore, Sabine’s Gulls, Black-footed Albatrosses, and another each of Tufted Puffin and Flesh-footed Shearwater. One adventurous young Brandt’s Cormorant decided to go west (my friend), met us 10-12 miles out (way further offshore than usual for this species), and joined the trailing gaggle for the next two hours, at one point being chased by a Pink-footed Shearwater that, apparently, was not in an inclusive mood. You never know what you will see out there!
So, in the end, we faired pretty well, traditionally the most popular month for pelagic trips, but also the low point for both albatrosses and the likelihood of seeing rarities in general (“boring” is how the hard-core birders are now referring to it). Based on this we are hoping to run more bird-dedicated trips in April-July next year and to focus more on cetaceans and cool ocean inverts (but always on birds as well!) in August-October.
Melarnstic Sooty Shewarwaler (top) and Shorttailed Shearwaters. Photos: Peter Pyle
Salp Wheel. Photo: Katherine Keegan
