Cruizin’ For Tube – A “Pelagic” Aboard a Cruise Liner – April 25-29, 2022

I’ve never actually been on a proper pelagic trip. Sure, I’ve been on at least two self-organized “pelagics” where Ross and I have showed up in a foreign country near the ocean and talked a local fisherman into taking us out bird watching on his boat, but if those don’t count as pelagics then I don’t think our recent sea watching cruise in search of seabirds aboard a Holland America Cruise liner counts either. That being said, I still kept wanting to refer to our cruise as a pelagic. But anyone who’s ever been on a proper pelagic knows that scopes, which require a steady hand to see far into the distance, are useless on the rough seas, however they are vital for sea watching from shore. So our Holland America Cruise up the continental shelf off the coast of California and Oregon and northward to Vancouver, BC, where we stood outside watching birds from a boat so large that it could cut through the waves like butter, with scopes always at the ready, must fall somewhere between a proper sea watch and a pelagic. Perhaps if the two had a baby this cruise would be it?

It was a somewhat spontaneous decision to go on this cruise as we typically spend our free time in other countries, but when Doug Gochfeld and Tom Johnson, two good friends and FieldGuides’ tour leaders invited us to join them on this trip, we couldn’t help but consider the option. A few of our other bird watching friends would be joining and I think they helped convince us to go (not that it really took much convincing at all.) We would be going on a four-day all-inclusive cruise with a reputable cruise line and Ross had the possibility of seeing several lifers so off we went! The cruise was technically a “repo” or “repositioning cruise” meaning that it was going the opposite direction that most people take to vacation. When cruise companies need to get a ship from one place to another and don’t want to lose money in the process, they often offer the ride at a discounted rate. For just $379, we had four nights of lodging, access to all-you-can-eat food any time of day, as well as access to the ship’s many amenities such as the casino, live shows, movies, swimming pools, hot tubs and so much more! Not that we did much other than stand outside in the wind. We weren’t here for cruise ship activities; we were here for the birds!

Unlike most traditional pelagic birding trips, cruise liners spend most of their time in the really deep waters at or beyond the continental shelf. Extended access to these deep waters is what has made birding from cruise ships increasingly popular amongst birders. In these deep waters one can find a whole different suite of birds, namely Pterodroma petrels. These acrobatic flyers are famous for zipping around in almost unbelievable arcs as they glide comfortably through the turbulent winds in breathtaking fashion. They are among the most pelagic (adj: to spend time out on the ocean) of all seabirds and mostly only come to land to breed.

Paul Lehman, an avid birdwatcher, former WINGS birding tour guide, and local resident of California has probably gone on about a dozen of these repo cruises. He is the one who essentially put the repositioning cruise itinerary off the West Coast on the birding radar and he, along with a few others from around the world, has demonstrated the value of these gigantic floating vessels for pelagic birding. Paul is basically a walking expert when it comes to birding from cruise ships, so much so that he wrote a magazine article for North American Birds all about it. (I would link to the article if I could, but I couldn’t find it and it’s for subscribers only anyway.) Although Paul no longer leads tours, he still enjoys going on these birding cruises and has no problem taking a group of 20+ birders under his wing (birder pun intended) and showing them the ropes. On our first day Paul gave everyone a tour of the ship and showed us where the best viewing platforms were for seabird watching and what his daily itinerary aboard a cruise ship looked like. 

For the next three days we stood out on the Promenade, aka Deck 3, aka the deck with a walking track around the whole ship where three laps equals one mile, and scanned the seas. Surely we were a sight for the daily walkers! It can be surprisingly cold standing outside on the deck for hours on end, even off the coast of California. Steady north/northwest winds, sometimes up to 30 knots, combined with the boat’s 22 miles per hour made for a significant wind chill and we all dressed for the occasion by wearing thick parkas, multiple layers, and hats and gloves while the walkers would do their laps in a light jacket. But I’m sure it was the countless tripod legs, massive camera lenses slung over shoulders and binoculars around every neck that really sealed the deal! Again, I’m sure we were quite the sight to see! (Actually I know we were because on several occasions people would stop to take pictures of us!)
This particular cruise was catered towards the older generation and I think I only ever saw two children the entire time. We joked that it’s not often that a group of birders, a population often stereotyped for being “older,” can bring down the median age! A few of us even got mistaken for staff on more than one occasion. (Owen Hilchey really looks like he could work in the ship’s gym!) Although we spent the majority of our time outside looking worse for wear, a small group of us would quickly clean up for a nice meal inside the ship’s fancy restaurant!

We took off from San Diego around 1700 on Monday April 25, 2022 and had several hours to bird through the harbor and out into the ocean waters before sunset. I really enjoyed the first night because we were comfortably spread out and yet still saw some great birds such as thousands of Black Storm-petrels, Scripp’s Murrelet, and Black-vented Shearwater. We ended the evening with point blank views of a Pomarine Jaeger with perfect “spoons” as it cruised alongside us until it was too dark to see. It’s not often one gets walkaway views of a seabird. Although we attempted to utilize walkie talkies to communicate our sightings on that first night, those standing towards the front still missed several of the birds we saw (and vice versa). So for the remaining days everyone stood as close together as one with a spotting scope possibly could and saw the benefit of being crammed like sardines. Although it was significantly tighter, we had more eyes gazing out into the water and likely got on more birds as a result.
April 26^th, our first full day of birding, was spent between waters off of west Santa Barbara County and extreme southern Marin County off the coast of California. The hardcore birders were out at dawn (0600) and stayed out until dusk (1930-1945), bypassing leaving the post for anything more than a potty break and watching the water for over 12 hours straight! The winds on our first full day made for almost perfect seabird conditions and by the end of the day we had seen hundreds of petrels!! We were sure to follow proper pelagic protocol when submitting our eBird checklists (thanks again to Doug, Owen, and Tom for compiling the lists) to contribute as much data to science as possible. (And so the reviewers would have no choice other than to approve the ridiculous numbers we were reporting.) Our winds were so good and numbers so high that Paul, a veteran cruise ship birder, admitted he’d never tallied this many Hawaiian Petrels (6) and Murphy’s Petrels (234) in a single day on any trip prior! For those interested, here’s our eBird Trip Report.

Here are a few photos courtesy of Tom Johnson of a few highlight species:

And here’s a few more just for good measure courtesy of Doug Gochfeld:

The pelagic birding on April 28^th was almost nonexistent as we arrived for a port call in Victoria, British Colombia. I have to admit that it was nice to step foot on dry land, even if only for 12 hours! (Melissa Roach and I were discussing how strange it must feel to be on a boat for weeks on end if it felt this strange after just 2.5 days!) Joachim Bertrands, a local BC birder, friend of Doug’s, and someone whom Ross communicated with regularly via social media, opted to meet up with us for a day of birding. Joachim is an excellent birder and prepared a lovely afternoon itinerary by showing us some of his favorite local haunts. We stopped for Eurasian Skylark at the only known spot in the ABA area that it is known to occur (although introduced!) and then followed that up by birding a local wetland. We stopped for a delicious lunch and then ended the day walking through excellent habitat with amazing views of another target, Sooty Grouse, a lifer for four of the eight people in attendance! Other birds in attendance included Red-breasted Sapsucker, “western” Purple Finch, and MacGillivray’s Warbler. A quick sunset over Victoria and dinner of Pho ended our time with Joachim in Victora. We were among the last people to board the cruise ship and set off for our final night on the ship. 

Our cruise ended early on April 29^th as we pulled into the harbor of Vancouver, BC and we deboarded the cruise line by 0745. While most of our compatriots opted to leave that same day, Ross and I opted to stay the weekend and bird in the pacific northwest, a place we hadn’t been to prior. Our main target was Franklin’s Spruce Grouse, a lifer for me and a subspecies lifer for Ross. I also managed a lifer in the form of Williamson’s Sapsucker. Honestly, the views of the mountains were breathtaking and as we walked lovely trails through pristine forests I often felt the need to stop and pinch myself because the views in front of me were almost too good to be true. I don’t care how many times I’ve seen a Barred Owl sitting in a tree above my head, it’s still really cool when one flies into the tree next to where you’re standing and sits, in broad daylight, out in the open surrounded by a mobbing flock of warblers and what can only be described as stunning habitat. I’m not one for the cold and the snow, but so much of my recent trip to Canada made me want to pause and breathe it all in. 

Can’t wait for the next Repo Cruise!