Posted by Toe on August 24, 2015 at 17:47:38
Yesterday we did the first official pelagic trip aboard my new, larger boat. Yes, we have a bigger boat! I was joined by Barbara Dewitt, Tom Friedel, Ted Center, Judd Patterson, Raul "Rock Jetty" Urgelles, Paul "Life Is Good" Bithorn, and Larry "The Man" Manfredi. The forecast for the previous week had called for a steady breeze out of the E-SE, which I was counting on for yesterday. True to the weatherman, the wind shifted unexpectedly the night before to the northwest (oh oh). This is not good, as everything gets pused farther offshore. As we hit the reef I could easily see the effects of the wind shift: greenish water and no birds. I knew we'd have to travel far to find them, which we eventually did. Out past 1,800' and again in 2,200' there were weedlines holding small groups of Sooty and Bridled Terns. But, completely absent were shearwaters and storm-petrels. Normally the Gulfstream current rips north at 4.4 knots in this area, but yesterday is was moving at a paltry 1.9-2.2 knots. I've noticed that my best days for pelagics have been those where the Gulfstream is pushed in and the current just past the reef is rushing north. Despite the less than optimal conditions, we made a day of it and managed to see 8 species of terns plus a couple of Brown Booby. The terns were feeding in the weedlines and we managed to get excellent looks at Bridled and Sooty Terns and Brown Noddies. We were hoping for a Roseate offshore and a Gull-billed once we got back in to make it a 10 Tern day, but no luck. We did have an adult Bald Eagle fly overhead as we pulled into the dock. The extra space on the boat plus the hard top made the day pleasant despite the hot, sunny conditions, and the company was superb. We managed to do a little fishing while out on the weedlines and captured 7 dolphin (mahi mahi), but one was right at the size limit so it won its freedom. A big thanks to all who came along on the first toelagic for the XENIA V. Hopefully there will be many more. The list of tern species seen: Sooty Tern Bridled Tern Brown Noddy Common Tern Black Tern Royal Tern Least Tern Black Skimmer