July Pelagic

From Rick Heil:

SATURDAY, 18 JULY 2009:

Brookline Bird Club EXTREME PELAGIC: HYANNIS to WEST ATLANTIS and ATLANTIS CANYONS (0400-2115 hours)

Weather: A.M.: Mostly overcast, rain (heavy at times) until about 0830 hrs, S-SW winds 10-22 mph, 62-75 F.
P.M.: Partly sunny (hazy), S-SW winds 8-15 mph, 65-75 F.

Seas: 4-6 feet in the A.M., diminishing to 2-4 feet in the afternoon.

Visibility: Mostly very good after the rain ended; light to moderate fog over cooler Nantucket Shoals waters on the return.

Leaders: Richard S. Heil, Jeremiah Trimble, and Steve "the man on the mike" Mirick; no trips would happen without the dedication and hard work of Ida Giriunas.

Approximate route aboard the "Helen H" with able Captain Joe Huckameyer and excellent attentive crew Matt and Bob: From Hyannis via Muskeget Channel south to West Atlantis Canyon, then east to Atlantis Canyon, then north across Nantucket Shoals and back into Nantucket Sound between Nantucket and Monomoy Islands.

An exact route map nicely charted via GPS by Steve Mirick (click to enlarge):


A nearly full boat endured moderately rough conditions in the morning on the way to the shelf edge, but were rewarded with diminished seas as the day progressed and were especially rewarded by some great pelagic birding. Proving once again the exciting possibilities in these mostly unexplored waters, we encountered our first Pterodroma petrel in the Extreme Pelagic trip history, a beautiful BLACK-CAPPED PETREL that showed for nearly five minutes, making two close passes to the boat, all the while pursued expertly at full throttle by the captain. Chasing Pterodromas is not for the weak at heart!

Other highlights included a new state high count for Audubon's Shearwaters and a nice tally of Leach's Storm-Petrels, many being well seen. The major 'lowlight' was the sad case of a Right Whale, injured an entangled in fishing gear south of Nantucket Shoals.

photo by Jason Forbes

Common Eider (5 males): just off Martha's Vineyard.
BLACK-CAPPED PETREL (1) Found in approximately 425 feet of water (surface T = 72 F), 
about 15 miles NW of the head of West Atlantis Canyon and 77 miles south of Martha's Vineyard, 
at 40 10 15 N, 70 43 90 W.   In view 4-5 minutes; seen by most on board;
 the petrel made two close passes at the boat arcing high in typical Pterodroma fashion in wind; 
photographically documented; about 5th state record; spectacular bird.




Photos by Jeremiah Trimble

Cory's Shearwater (232) : Many identified as borealis; a couple possible Scopoli's candidates not fully documented.
Greater Shearwater (240)
Sooty Shearwater (16)
Manx Shearwater (3)
Audubon's Shearwater (19): HIGH COUNT; All in warmer (70-76 degree F.) waters near the shelf edge; many in heavy molt;
New state high count! Previous high was of 17-Hyrographer Canyon vicinity-9 August 2007.

photo by Jason Forbes

black-and-white shearwater sp. (1) : Manx/Little type not well seen.
Wilson's Storm-Petrel (475)
Leach's Storm-Petrel (58) : Most in or near deeper waters near shelf break as is typical



Photo by Jeremiah Trimble

storm-petrel sp. (3): LESP/ Band-rumped's not well observed.
Northern Gannet (3 sub ads.)
Herring Gull (3)
Great Black-backed Gull (7)
Least Tern (2) : Near M.V.
Common Tern (4)-Natucket Shoals.
Sterna sp. (10)
Pomarine Jaeger (1) ; Darkish sub-adult; oddly only jaeger for the day.
passerine sp. (1) : Small (large warbler/vireo/waxwing) size, squat, short tailed; maybe 10-15 miles south of M.V.



NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALE (1): Sadly entangled in fishing gear (ropes and flotation ball) about 42 miles SSE of Nantucket. 
The animal also showed old healed propeller damage on the back; the situation was duly reported and rescue efforts 
may be underway soon if they are not already. (see below for an update)







Photos by Jeremiah Trimble

Gray Grampus (Risso's Dolphin) (1)
Bottlenosed Dolphin (70)
Common (Saddleback) Dolphin (28)
Harbor Seal (2)

Blue Shark (1)
Hammerhead Shark (1): about 7 ft long
Ocean Sunfish, Mola mola (2)
a number of Flying Fish sp.
Green Darner, Anax junius (1)

Thanks to all the participants aboard who made this trip happen!


Whale update from Scott Landry, Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies:

Based on your images the New England Aquarium verified the ID as an adult male nicknamed Radiator. The whale was last seen gear-free by our aerial survey program in Cape Cod Bay in April. Based on your images it now seems clear that the whale is not entangled by the flukes but perhaps somewhere forward on the body, such as the head (a common occurrence in right whale entanglements). The scarring you observed was a mix of old wounds (from two previous entanglements) and new (likely from the current line chafing against the tailstock). Due to time of day of the report and distance from our port no entanglement response was possible. Since Nantucket Shoal is not known to be a reliable feeding area for right whales, Radiator is probably long gone from that area, though the Great South Channel might be his next stop (just a guess). Our disentanglement network has been alerted to this case and now we can only hope for another opportunistic sighting of this whale (we may also hope that his entanglement is not serious and may be shed).

On a brighter note we had three South Polar skuas during a whale survey yesterday on Cultivator Shoal. Very impressive birds.

Pictures and reports

Jeremiah Trimble's Photos

James P. Smith's Photos

Derek Lovitch's Report

Nick Bonomo's Report

Jason Forbes's Report and separate Greater Shearwater photos