May flowers

 

Hesperomecon linearis photographed in the Bodega Dunes on 13 May 2023.  Many thanks to Eric for the great photo!

Spanning the Northeast Pacific

  

Black-footed Albatross (Phoebastria nigripes) offshore on 7 May 2023.

And here's a view of the entire bird so you can appreciate its wingspan:

 

 

P.S.  You can click on the images for larger versions.

 

With or without porpoise

  

It's a busy week (!), but here are a couple of Dall's Porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli) photos from the pelagic trip on 7 May 2023.  One with porpoise (above) and one without (below) — by that I mean the splash is more visible than the animal, which isn't uncommon!

 

 

'Ua'u!

  

A beautiful Hawaiian Petrel (Pterodroma sandwichensis) flyby during the offshore boat trip on 7 May 2023.  It was a little distant for my lens, but I think you'll still be able to appreciate this handsome species.

Here's a view as it banked away from the boat:

 

 

 

And one more (below), this time as the petrel approached low over the water.  You can probably tell that there wasn't much wind at the time.  Petrels are often easier to find when winds are stronger, but the calm conditions allowed us to go farther offshore (30-35 miles?) which probably increased our chances of finding petrels.

 

 

 

If you're interested, there's a little more about this endangered species in the post called "With aloha" on 25 May 2021.  And there's a helpful species account at this U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service web page.

 

Out of the water

  

Whoops, I'm running out of time tonight, but here's a dolphin photo for you — Pacific White-sided Dolphin (Lagenorhynchos obliquidens) from yesterday's pelagic trip out beyond Cordell Bank.

A day at sea

  

A bit of a sneak peek — Murphy's Petrel (Pterodroma ultima) from an offshore boat trip on 7 May 2023.  More photos from the pelagic trip will be coming this week!

Following the coast

  

Gray Whales (Eschrichtius robustus) were visible near shore today (3 May 2023), swimming north along the coast.