Pelagic Trips - Student Scholarships Spotlight
MCAS Pelagic Sponsorships
by Anna Heming and Peyton Bounds
Earlier last month, we had an incredible opportunity to go on a Noyo Pelagic trip. Our day started with a three and half hour drive to the harbor, where we were immediately greeted by the sounds of sea lions barking and western gulls flying overhead. As we boarded the boat and headed out of the harbor our weariness from the early morning drive left us and was replaced by eager anticipation of what was to come. We started off the trip strong with a great look at a pigeon guillemot just a few feet from the boat as we exited the harbor.
For the next hour, we took in the breathtaking views from the boat as we passed by various near-shore seabirds like murres, loons, and cormorants. Once we saw our first sooty shearwater, followed not long after by the first of many black-footed albatrosses, we could tell that we had reached deeper waters. This was when things started to get really interesting. As bait and oil were tossed from the back of the boat, dozens of black-footed albatrosses, sooty, and pink-footed shearwaters, as well as a few northern fulmars soon came in to investigate the scent. This gave us great looks at these very unique and otherwise difficult to see birds. One surprising part of the trip was that we had two laysan albatrosses that came in very close, a species we had both only ever seen once prior.
We saw more than just birds; early in the day a shark was called out and we all shuffled up to see what turned out to be a large mola mola right at the surface next to the boat. This however, would not be the only “shark” we saw on this trip. A little while after, a shark was again called from the bow, and as we walked up the edge of the boat we saw a blue shark swimming right beneath us. The boat stopped and as more bait was thrown out, even more albatrosses gathered around us and another shark appeared. This made for a very memorable moment with amazing views of both the sharks and albatrosses as they swam right up to the boat. We continued on for a few more hours after this, watching as hundreds of birds passed by with a number of new species. Of note were some early Sabine’s Gulls and a Manx shearwater which gave a brief flyby towards the end of the trip and was a lifer for us both!
We both feel so privileged to have had the chance to experience this pelagic. As birders and Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology students at UC Davis, we both draw inspiration from experiences such as this one as we pursue careers studying birds. Thank you to everyone at the Mendocino Coast Audubon Society for this amazing opportunity.
MCAS Pelagic Sponsorships
by Marty Freeland
Last spring, Peter Pyle mentioned to me that the Mendocino Coast Audubon Society was working on a program to sponsor students’ participation in pelagic trips. As a college student myself, I was lucky enough to benefit from that program directly later in the year.
Boating expeditions out of Noyo Harbor are always an amazing experience, and I’ve loved each one that I’ve been on. In ports where spotter opportunities are relatively limited, MCAS scholarships have allowed me, and many others, to fully enjoy the experience, without adding to the student loans.
In addition to being a student in college, I also co-teach a university class in ornithology, and I co-advise students in biology internships, earth systems fellowships, research assistantships, and so on. I liked the MCAS student scholarship model so much that I thought my students should be supported in the same way. If Tim Bray, Peter Pyle, and MCAS can put together a program for getting students out on the water free of charge, maybe other groups can follow suit.
Inspired by the success of MCAS’s program to date, I pitched the idea of putting together a sponsorship program for student birders on boats to my amazing faculty advisor, Prof. Rodolfo Dirzo. He administers a grant from the National Science Foundation called SOAR for Student Opportunities in Avian Research, along with other wonderful colleagues like Maya Xu and Jorge Ramos of Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve. After meeting with a variety of administrators, we figured out a way by which Stanford University can channel some of its grant funds to local pelagic operators, including student-chartered boats in Humboldt, Bodega Bay, and Half Moon Bay– to get students out onto the water free of charge.
We’re stoked with the results so far. MCAS scholarships got San Jose high schooler and ABA Young Birder of the Year laureate, Chris Henry, an amazing selfie with a Murphy’s Petrel. SOAR sponsorships, inspired by MCAS, got a crew of Cal Poly Humboldt students views of the first non-repositioning cruise Cook’s Petrels in Humboldt waters. MCAS scholarships got newly-minted California Bird Records Committee member, Ethan Monk, his nemesis Manx Shearwater, and SOAR scholarships got a boatload of Marin birders their county Manx Shearwater on an otherwise unsuccessful Waved Albatross chase boat.
It’s amazing to see the MCAS student scholarship model succeeding from other ports as well, and hopefully more bird alliances and similar groups will be motivated to get in on the action in the future.
