[Note: I did not write a journal entry at the time, so the notes that follow are based on the photos, any data I collected, and what faded memories I retain from years after the fact.]
September’s weather had been remarkably calm, with the forecast calling for the pattern to continue. Since I started paying attention to birds several years ago, I’ve been interested in getting offshore and seeing some pelagic species.
Working with Kitty, we were able to arrange with Kent Hall of the Sitka Secret to take four of us out this morning to head offshore. As it turned out, when we met at the boat, Carrie and Ben also knew Kent, so I was the only one he was meeting for the first time.
There was little swell, but enough wind to kick up some decent chop. Often this gets worse in the afternoon, so we decided to head out and make the best of it.
We ran into a flock of shearwaters between Vitskari and St. Lazaria. It’s the first time I observed them. As best I could tell, they were all Sooty Shearwaters.
Heading out beyond Cape Edgecumbe, things were quiet. We saw a couple of distant birds, but not much. We watched the depth finder showing the bottom slowly dropping as we headed west-southwest. Kent’s normal fishing extent was only about 3 miles off the cape, so he was curious to see the shelf break. As we approached where we thought it should be without seeing any significant change in the bottom, we began to wonder. Finally, the depth finder showed the bottom dropping precipitously. We had reached the shelf break.
Conditions were uncomfortable for Carrie and I. Without much going on bird-wise, it was easy to feel the motion of the ocean. Kent had brought some frozen salmon heads in hopes they might attract birds, but they quickly sank when he put them in the water.
Instead of staying out and getting beat up by the waves, Kent suggested we run over closer to Biorka, where we could anchor up and do some fishing. Sometimes birds will fly by then.
On our way over, we had a flyby of a jaeger – also my first, but unfortunately my blurry photo isn’t sufficient for me to determine between Pomarine and Parasitic Jaeger.
I went in the cabin and slept while Kitty, Kent, and Ben fished. I think Carrie faired a bit worse than me, but I wasn’t awake enough to notice.
As it turned out, the winds calmed down in the afternoon, but we were already back by then. It’s always hard to know.
While I would have liked to see more birds, it was nice for me to get out offshore for the first time.
My iNaturalist Observations for Today
