Storm-petrels are back! August 6-8 Pelagic Expedition

Finally things are getting back to normal with more species of Storm Petrels observed! Ok, White-faced Storm Petrel was literally taken out of a box, it was a rescued bird in land that Hugo and Catarina took to the sea to release. It went well as the bird fed for a while on the chum slick and then slowly flew away from us. Although Bulwer's Petrel Bulweria bulwerii and Cory's shearwater Calonectris borealis are still in less numbers than previous years.

6th of August 2019 - North wind up to 6 knots and waves from same direction up to 0.5 meters
Pterodroma sp. - on the way up
3 Yellow-legged Gull Larus michahellis
Wilson's Storm-petrel Oceanites oceanicus
Long-tailed Jaeger Stercorarius longicaudus

Blainville's beaked whale Mesoplodon densirostris

7th of August 2019 - westerly wind up to 8 knots and NW waves up to 1 meter
3 Fea's Petrel Pterodroma feae/deserta off Machico, 1 flying and 2 sitting among Cory’s shearwaters
Long-tailed Jaeger Stercorarius longicaudus on the way up
Manx Shearwater Puffinus puffinus puffinus on the way up
3 Fea's Petrel Pterodroma feae/deserta - on the chum slick
European Storm Petrel Hydrobates pelagicus
Wilson's Storm-petrel Oceanites oceanicus
Zino's Petrel Pterodroma madeira - flying over the chum slick at the same time as the 2nd Fea’s Petrel

Atlantic spotted dolphin Stenella frontalis
Short-finned pilot whale Globicephala macrorhynchus
Common Bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus
Blue shark Prionace glauca - trying to bite the chum

8th of August 2019 - SW wind up to 10 knots on the chumming position but up to 17 knots on the way there. West waves up to 1 meter
Sooty shearwater Puffinus griseus - on the way to the chumming position
White-faced Storm Petrel Pelagodroma marina hypoleuca
4 Common Tern Sterna hirundo
3 Yellow-legged Gull Larus michahellis
6 Madeiran Storm Petrel Oceanodroma castro - 5 birds showed up just by sunset

Blue shark Prionace glauca