2/19/23 Cape May Pelagic - Alcids, Shearwaters and Whales

     On Sunday, I left home at 4:30 in the morning for Cape May to join a 12-hour pelagic trip aboard the American Star.  It was cold, about 35 degrees, but for mid-February in New Jersey that is not bad.  I go out on pelagics whenever I can because there are birds and other sea life out on the ocean that you just cannot find on land.  My previous pelagic trip last month was windy, colder with snow flurries.  Weather conditions this time were better, and my expectations were a little high.  This winter has been exceptional for alcids along the northeastern Atlantic, from New York to North Carolina.  I knew leaving home that this was an opportunity to see maybe five different alcids:  razorbill, dovekie, Atlantic puffin, common and thick-billed murres.  For the day, we scored four of the five; only missing a thick-billed murre.  The tally for the day was 282 razorbills, 55 dovekies, one puffin and one common murre, plus several unidentified alcids.

Left, razorbill.  Right, razorbills with two dovekies at top.  © S. Weiss

Dovekie, smallest of the locally seen alcids.  © S. Weiss

Atlantic Puffin, the most colorful of the locally seen alcids.  © S. Weiss

Two other true pelagic birds I was hoping to see, but came up empty on, were northern fulmar and great skua.  Unfortunately, I do not think we made it far enough offshore to have a good chance at luring a fulmar to the boat.  Fulmars, members of the tubenose group of pelagic birds, are not usually encountered short of the 40-to-50-mile distance from shore.  At last check, I believe we were about 35 miles out before we began the journey back to port.  The timing was right for great skua, but they are rare off of New Jersey.  Unfortunately, even with several of New Jersey’s most experienced birders on board, great skua remains on the wanted list.

Northern Fulmar, from March 2021.  © S. Weiss

Though it looks much like a gull, the fulmar is actually a petrel.  Like shearwaters and petrels, fulmars are tubenoses (order Procellariiformes) in the family Procellariidae.

For a while, an adult Iceland gull joined the flock of herring and great black-backed gulls following the boat’s chum trail.  The gull, one of our two white-winged species, gave great photo opportunities as well as great real-time comparisons to the other gulls.  The avian surprise of the day, however, was when a sooty shearwater approached the boat and joined the chum-picking gulls off the stern.  It stuck around for a bit delighting everyone, gliding and arcing over the sea swells and occasionally dipping below the surface to pick up some free food scraps.  Though this individual was technically in Delaware waters, sooty shearwaters are not normally expected around New Jersey until about May.  This individual may be the earliest one ever recorded in this part of the North Atlantic Ocean.  Later, a slightly more expected Manx shearwater was spotted distantly off the ship’s bow, but continued on its course spurning the same viewing opportunities as did the sooty.

Adult Iceland Gull.  © S. Weiss

The Iceland Gull is one of our two white-winged gulls; the other being the larger Glaucous Gull.

Left, adult Iceland Gull.  Right, adult Herring Gull.  © S. Weiss

In a comparison of the two similar looking gulls, notice the lack of black wingtips on the Iceland Gull. 

A very early Sooty Shearwater.  © S. Weiss

Sooty Shearwater (top) and Iceland Gull (below).  © S. Weiss

There are few times that both species are seen together.

Mixed in with the birds were some whales.  A few early, distant blow spots turned out to be a pair of fin whales.  The pair of giants were loosely traveling together and gave spectators satisfying views of their long backs on the surface and a couple raised flukes.  Though they are the second largest animals in the sea after the blue whale, they were later shown up by the sighting of a North Atlantic right whale.  These smaller, rarer whales are among the world’s most endangered animals with a population estimated around 350 individuals.  Another whale spotted afterwards was first thought to be a more common humpback whale.  Based on the limited views of this last whale, the ship’s crew could not positively identify it to species.  Hence, we fell short of a whale trifecta.

North Atlantic Right Whale.  © S. Weiss

The right whale is a baleen whale, the same group as humpback whales, fin whales, blue whales to name a few.  Instead of teeth, they have baleen plates to strain water from their mouths to trap food.  The other whale group is the toothed whales.  Examples of that group are sperm whales, belugas, narwhals, pilot whales, orcas, dolphins and porpoises.

Fin Whales from June 2022.  © S. Weiss

Proudly, I must share that the three times the captain and crew of the American Star came upon a North Atlantic right whale I was also on board.