Birds and Other Nature Sightings

 This past weekend my friend, Captain John, invited me on another fishing trip for tuna.  Based on the successful trip we had two weeks ago; I was excited for another day out on the ocean.  The offshore weather forecast for Sunday called for light winds and two-foot seas meant a smooth and quicker ride.  The fishing reports indicated that schools of larger yellowfin tuna, in the 80-pound range, and bigeye tuna, which run twice that size, had moved into the area.  The weather forecast, the fishing reports and my own hopes of seeing some summer pelagic birds, had my anticipation levels heightened. We left the dock by 1:30 a.m. and headed northeast out of Barnegat Inlet.  We arrived at the fishing grounds just before sunrise and the seas were light as had been forecasted.  However, we would spend about the next six hours searching for tuna.  The closest thing we caught was a false albacore .  False albacores are not considered tasty.  It is...

 This past weekend a friend invited me to join him on his boat for a tuna fishing trip.  I didn’t hesitate to take his offer.  The trip offered me two of my favorite activities - fishing and wildlife viewing.  Luckily, the weather, the tuna and the marine life all cooperated for me.  We caught yellowfin tuna and saw plenty of dolphins, whales and a few pelagic birds. We left my friend’s dock at around 1 a.m. aboard his 36-foot fishing boat.  The boat, all decked out with offshore fishing gear, headed out of Barnegat Inlet on a course about 90 miles to the northeast.  We arrived at the fishing grounds around 5:30 a.m.  I can’t identify the exact location because my friend, like any other dedicated fishing captain, doesn’t give out his secret GPS coordinates.  But eBird decided to place my checklist in New York waters. Left, Wilson's storm-petrel.  Right, Cory's shearwater.    © S. Weiss Left, great shearwater.  Right, grea...