Beaks in My Lens: Hawaii Pelagic Trip - I am back home before the big storm hit

On our last day in Hawaii (Tuesday, 9/22) we spent 8 hours on a fishing boat off the coast of Kona (west side of the island). Pelagic tours are a a special part of birding, because the birds that live this far out in the ocean are rarely seen on land. Pelagic (to birders) is the area beyond the continental shelf (or shift) where the ocean is REALLY deep. In Washington state this means that you have to go about 50 miles off the coast to get past the continental shelf. In Hawaii, there is no shelf.

a smoothed out view of route we took - there was a lot of zigzagging
(that's Maui at the top and Hawaii on the right)

It was exciting being on a boat with an all female crew - it is estimated that only 8% of bird guides are female. The captain / boat owner and first mate / spotter both grew up on Hawaii in fishing families and often win fishing (including spear fishing!) competitions. They were both expert birders and knew seabirds. Our local guide, Mandy, also had been on many pelagic trips in Hawaii, so her ability to distinguish species from a distance in the glare of the sun was amazing. We saw 15 different species, including one that has only been seen off the island of Hawaii once before!

Mandy (local guide), Momi (captain), Kay, Kamaile (1st mate), Tiffany (guide)

By the way, Kay, in the photo above, was celebrating turning 70 this year by looking for 700 species in 2026 in the United States. She came on the trip with about 40 left to go - and finished the trip with 709! That places her currently as 4th top birder in the U.S. this year, and there are still a few months to go. Our guide Tiffany, broke the U.S. record for number of species in the lower 48 states in 2021 with 726 species.

Blue-gray Noddy - only the second time this species has been seen near the island of Hawaii

Red-footed Booby

Wedge-tailed Shearwater

White-tailed Tropicbird

Blue-billed White Tern

Brown Noddy

Other than birds, we also saw Spinner Dolphins and Pilot Whales which both came close to the boat, flying fish (so awesomely cool!) and a huge tuna that jumped out of the water.