Late July local pelagics

After 10 great years with my old Sea Hunt Ultra 196 center console, I decided an upgrade was in order. Several months of shopping ensued, and I finally purchased a used Edgewater 245cc in June. A month of prep work later, she was in the water, and I was itching to see what she could do. 

The inshore waters south of Montauk, NY and Block Island, RI have been holding great numbers of pelagic birds and mammals for several weeks now. This is not the case every summer; you never know where the bait (and the "life") will be from year to year...or week to week! These waters were not really in range for a day trip from New Haven with the old boat, but can be done with much greater safety and confidence with the new rig. That being said, it still takes a really calm day to be done comfortably. As luck would have it, two recent excellent boating days have coincided with time off from work.

One day I picked up crew in Groton and we headed to the waters south of Block Island. On Day two I collected friends in Orient Point, and we hit both NY and RI state waters. Both trips were full of birds and were highly successful. Highlights from the two days combined included SOUTH POLAR SKUA, all three JAEGERS, five SHEARWATER species, ROYAL TERN, BROWN PELICAN, three whale species, and two dolphin species. Though a true 'mega' eluded us, South Polar Skua is a fantastic inshore bird around here. This has been a particularly great summer for them in southern New England, as they have been seen on local whale watches and even from land a couple times.

Everything seen was within 10 miles south of the Montauk-Block Island line.

Manx Shearwater

Great Shearwaters

Cory's Shearwater

Scopoli's Shearwater

Scopoli's Shearwater

Scopoli's Shearwater

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Humpback Whale

Common Dolphin

Bluefin Tuna

Bluefin Tuna

Manx Shearwater

Great Shearwater

South Polar Skua (right)

South Polar Skua

South Polar Skua

South Polar Skua

South Polar Skua

Great Shearwater

Parasitic Jaeger

Parasitic Jaeger

Parasitic Jaeger

Montauk Point

Scopoli's Shearwater

Cory's Shearwater

Pomarine Jaeger (center) with Great Shearwater back left and Manx Shearwater front right

Pomarine Jaeger

Scopoli's Shearwater - we picked this bird out on the water as a small and slim-billed bird; flight view below

Scopoli's Shearwater (same as bird above on the water)

Manx Shearwater

US submarine!

Long-tailed Jaeger

Long-tailed Jaeger

Common Dolphin

Cory's Shearwater

Pomarine Jaeger

With some luck, I'll be able to get back out there before the show is over.

- NB

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