9/13 - 9/14/2025 White-faced Storm-petrel, Long-tailed Jaeger and Whales

This past weekend I was scheduled to go in a 24 hour pelagic trip out of Cape May. I had previously been scheduled to go out on their August trip, but it was postponed by a day and another commitment kept me off that boat. I was anxious to finally get back out on the water until I received the email late Wednesday postponing this trip too. My disappointment didn’t last long when my buddy called to invite me on a tuna fishing trip over the weekend. I wasn’t going to merely be a passenger looking for and photographing marine life in Cape May, but I would have to balance being a passive observer with being part of a fishing crew. Looking for birds, cetaceans and other marine life would be secondary to cutting bait, tossing chum and other deck duties. No problem, as either way, I was going to be out on the ocean.

We left mid-morning on Saturday and returned Sunday afternoon. This was one of the rare chances that I would have daylight on both the outgoing and incoming rides. We headed out to our fishing grounds about 70 miles offshore. Except for a Wilson’s storm-petrel or two, there was not really much to see on our way out. We started fishing in the afternoon and within the first five to ten minutes of putting our lines in the water we had our first yellowfin tuna. Things just as quickly slowed down and after a while of no fish activity, we moved on to another location just a few miles away. Just like the first stop, we boated our second yellowfin tuna just minutes after putting bait in the water. Then, just like the first stop, the fish disappeared. Instead of moving again, we stayed in the same spot for the night.

During the lull in fishing, I was able to pick up some storm-petrels and a few great shearwaters in the area. The numbers of these birds were noticeably and expectedly thinner than during the summer. They were starting their returns back to their wintering locations. Late in the afternoon I had my best bird of the day pass over our boat. A long-tailed jaeger, sans the long tail feathers, spent time on and off the rest of the afternoon investigating our activities and occasionally picking up some of the bait chunks drifting away in our chum slick.

Long-tailed jaeger. © S. Weiss

We continued fishing through the night without even a single fish showing any interest in the food we were offering. We took turns on watch, manning the fishing rods and making sure we didn’t drift too close to any other boats. The inactivity and a short nap curled up on a small bench made the night seem to drag on endlessly. We did have a couple visitors overnight though. Two (I’m pretty sure they were not the same individual) storm-petrels flew on to the boat, likely exhausted and just hoping to get s sheltered break. It is not uncommon for storm-petrels, attracted to the lights, to spend the night aboard fishing boats. They both eventually flew off seemingly ok.

Wilson's storm-petrels seeking refuge for the night. © S. Weiss

Just before daylight appeared on Sunday morning, a humpback whale surfaced to breathe only a few feet away from the boat. It was such an ethereal feeling to see the large mammal so close and hear it exhale before slipping back down below the surface. When the sun came up it was back to business trying to find the fish. Sunday continued as Saturday ended with the fish seemingly gone. We moved back and forth to several spots as morning turned into afternoon with no luck getting any tuna action.

On the other hand, I was able to see three species of whales: the predawn humpback, a passing fin whale and a couple minke whales. We saw several ocean sunfish, including a school of four or five of them. I also spotted several Portuguese man o’ war floating on the water. The bird action was rather slow again with some storm-petrels and great shearwaters. Another long-tailed jaeger came around and spent over an hour around the boat. Since we were in the same general area as Saturday, it’s very likely that it was the same bird from Saturday. Discounting the different lighting and different angles, I did not see any drastic plumage differences between the two birds.

Left, pair of minke whales. Right, Portuguese man o'war. © S. Weiss

Left, ocean sunfish dorsal fin. Right, offshore common bottlenose dolphin. © S. Weiss

Finally, in the afternoon, as we drifted on the perimeter of the rest of the fishing fleet, the tuna came back. A school of fish popped up near our boat and we worked hard to keep them close. With no use for the slop of chum we still had once we leave, we generously tossed it over board scoop by scoop to keep the now hungry again fish near us. One by one, we picked up three more yellowfin tuna before finally heading back home.

The trip was technically over, but there was one more surprise waiting to be found. Instead of taking a nap for the nearly four hour ride back, I chose to watch the wide open and mostly lifeless looking ocean for anything I wouldn’t find back on land. Not too long after we left the remainder of the fishing fleet behind, I spotted a small grayish bird hopping away from the boat’s wake. Now hopping is the key here, and that is what quickly piqued my attention. Without hesitation I turned to my camera and fired away shots until my subject was too far. I just spotted the much sought after white-faced storm petrel.

They are unmistakably identifiable compared to the other three storm-petrels more often seen in our waters: Wilson’s, band-rumpled and Leach’s. The latter three are black and white, and very similar in appearance. The white-faced is instead gray and white and has a unique and characteristic foraging style. It bounces on the water as if its legs were springs. The rest of the ride back was lackluster, but that was okay. I had my trip topper. Like I tell my friends, “Give me a fish and a bird, then the rest is gravy.” The white-faced storm-petrel was like the gravy my grandmother used to make.

Other interesting things seen out on the ocean: