3 Nights / 4 Days

Dr. P. Dee Boersma and Seabird Experts
A Seabird Workshop Aboard the M/V SeaWolf

Introducing Our Conservation Workshop Series
For Cloud Ridge, 2006 is the Year of the Seabird! My own fascination with seabirds began while sea kayaking in Southeast Alaska. A mysterious, fog-piercing call lured me around one surf-washed rock after another. Paddling as quietly as I could, I stopped abruptly as a brown, robin-sized seabird — a marbled murrelet — popped up just off my bow. The murrelet dove quickly, reappearing once again with a tiny fish in its mouth. Loggers working the Northwest’s fog-shrouded coasts, gave this enigmatic little seabird the name “fog lark.” More often heard than seen, marbled murrelets venture ashore only during the breeding season, flying as much as forty miles inland to lay their single egg on the broad, mossy branch of an old-growth conifer — a most unusual site for a seabird!

Marbled murrelet ,photo Larry Master

Flying fast and low through the dense forest, the parents take turns at making the long commute to foraging areas at sea. Almost nothing was known of the natural history of this fascinating seabird until the first nest was located in 1974, in a grove of California redwoods. More than thirty years later, biologists know enough to be alarmed by the sharp rate of population decline — 70% over the last 20 years in some parts of the species’ range! The marbled murrelet’s story highlights the multiple threats faced by all seabirds.

Seabirds live at the mercy of wind and wave — as the sea goes, storm-ridden or serene, so must they. Their survival is inextricably linked to the sea’s many moods, its ecological health, and biological productivity. The unique biology of seabirds — a group of species that includes the gulls, fulmars, auklets, puffins, murrelets, guillemots, murres, petrels, shearwaters, albatrosses, loons, and many species of sea ducks — makes them especially vulnerable to the impacts of global warming, marine pollution, oil spills, declining fish populations, commercial fishing bycatch, habitat loss or degradation, and changes in the rich plankton soup that forms the basis for the entire marine food chain.

Pigeon guillemot , photo Larry Master

Our seabird workshop, the first in a special series aboard the classic M/V SeaWolf and co-hosted with Sea Wolf Adventures, our Conservation Partner, will spend three days exploring the San Juan Islands and the region of Samish and Padilla Bays. Many species of seabirds and shorebirds winter in large numbers here, attracted by food-rich tidal rips between the islands and by the highly-productive waters of the estuaries that dot the coast. Dr. Dee Boersma and a team of seabird biologists will join us aboard the M/V SeaWolf for a series of lectures on seabird biology and behavior, as well as on the environmental issues that challenge seabird survival throughout the world. We should have excellent looks at rhinocerous auklets (once called “sea quail”), both marbled and ancient murrelets, common murres, pigeon guillemots, harlequin ducks, scoters, cormorants, and many other species — our observations continually enriched by our onboard experts. Night will find us in a cozy anchorage amongst the islands, continuing our discussions while we savor a fine dinner and a glass of wine.

Price: $695 ($100 deposit)

Group Size: 12
Trip Rating: 2 (Accessible)

Price Includes: 3 nights and 4 days aboard the M/V SeaWolf, all meals, staterooms with private facilities, all instruction and instructional materials, and the use of a motorized inflatible. This workshop begins and ends in Bellingham, WA.