Laysan Albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) - Tofino, BC
We h ad an incredible pelagic out of Tofino yesterday. We had 1 endangered Short-tailed Albatross and 15 near-threatened Laysan Albatrosses and several Black-footed Albatrosses so we had the trifecta! It was incredible because Short-tailed are extremely rare and last year at this time we had 3 Short-tailed s on a similar trip last march and we never thought it would happen again! I was really happy about seeing the Laysan Albatrosses since I have been trying for several years to see one in BC waters. The Laysan was BC Bird #427 for me. We ended up seeing an incredible number of them 15 to be exact! At one point we had 9 sitting all together. I went from seeing none for several years to seeing a flock! totally crazy! We lucked out by finding a few fishing boats but the best part was three young birders were on board and for 2 of them it was their first pelagic and they were lucky to hit the jackpot!. Their smiles and excitement were the best part of the trip for me.
We also had some incredible marine mammals this trip : 2 Humpback Whales, 1 Sea Otter, 4 Northern Fur Seals and a rare first for most on board which were 30 Risso's Dolphins and 4 Northern Right Whale Dolphins.
Laysan Albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) - Tofino, BC
We h ad an incredible pelagic out of Tofino yesterday. We had 1 endangered Short-tailed Albatross and 15 near-threatened Laysan Albatrosses and several Black-footed Albatrosses so we had the trifecta! It was incredible because Short-tailed are extremely rare and last year at this time we had 3 Short-tailed s on a similar trip last march and we never thought it would happen again! I was really happy about seeing the Laysan Albatrosses since I have been trying for several years to see one in BC waters. The Laysan was BC Bird #427 for me. We ended up seeing an incredible number of them 15 to be exact! At one point we had 9 sitting all together. I went from seeing none for several years to seeing a flock! totally crazy! We lucked out by finding a few fishing boats but the best part was three young birders were on board and for 2 of them it was their first pelagic and they were lucky to hit the jackpot!. Their smiles and excitement were the best part of the trip for me.
We also had some incredible marine mammals this trip : 2 Humpback Whales, 1 Sea Otter, 4 Northern Fur Seals and a rare first for most on board which were 30 Risso's Dolphins and 4 Northern Right Whale Dolphins.