Repositioning Cruises: Pelagic birding made comfortable

Traditionally, if you wished to add albatrosses, storm-petrels, or Pterodromas to your life list, you had few options beyond the 10-12 hour out-and-back charter boat trips that are offered along both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. While these near-shore trips usually provide great opportunities to see open ocean birds at close range, there are certain unpleasant aspects to this brand of pelagic birding. I have yet to meet the seabirder who looks forward to boarding a boat amid dockside cannery odors, watching their birding mates hang the rails with mal de mer, inhaling diesel exhaust all day, or venturing into that most vile of environs, "the head." Getting bounced around in what amounts to a foul-smelling broom closet when you are already feeling a bit queasy holds little appeal. Additionally, near-shore pelagics rarely get more than 35 miles offshore and much of the 10-12 trip is spent motoring out to and back from seamounts and chum stops where most of the birds are seen. In reality, time spent in really productive waters is limited to 3-4 hours.

A few years ago I learned of a method of sea-birding that is a bit more genteel. I found out that cruise lines offer modestly-priced voyages that they call "repositioning" cruises. These inexpensive trips are offered in between seasons when boats are being moved from one base port to another. Along the Pacific coast, several cruise companies base multiple ships in either Seattle or Vancouver, B.C. for the summer months. From mid-May through September these boats cruise back and forth to Alaska. The Alaska cruise season typically ends in mid-to-late September when the weather begins to turn cold. Upon completion of the last northbound cruise, these vessels are moved down the coast to either San Francisco or Los Angeles, where they will be based until the following May. In late spring, the ships are moved back up north.

The deck of a cruise ship is stable enough for using spotting scopes and deck chairs and the viewing angle from 17-20 meters above the surface of the water makes it possible to keep birds in view for long periods. It is near impossible to have a bird disappear into a trough and never be seen again, a common event when birding from the deck of a charter fishing boat.

Several years before I went on my first cruise, my long-time friends Jeff Gilligan and Owen Schmidt found out about these bargain cruises from Dan Johnson, a travel agent with Fairview Travel in Portland, Oregon. After making a few calculations, they realized that the ship would likely be in Oregon waters  for a full daylight cycle, an important consideration for two of Oregon's most serious listers. They booked their first cruise. A few short years and many exciting trip reports later, we now have a core group of about 15 Oregon and Washington birders who go on at least one cruise each spring and fall.

The timing of repositioning cruises, at least along the west coast of North America, coincides with the primary migration window for several species. In Fall,  the flights of jaegers (particularly Long-tailed), Sabine's Gulls, and Arctic Terns one encounters 50+ miles offshore (near the continental shelf) are usually far more impressive than those found by near-shore pelagic trips. Additionally, these trips offer at least one full daylight cycle of birding over deeper waters (two if you go all the way to Los Angeles).

The one drawback to cruise ship birding is that the boat is on a schedule, thus it clips along at about 25 knots, with no detours for mind-bending rarities. There is no opportunity to chum birds in close to the boat or chase unusual birds. However, by using a scope, the distance advantage is offset by prolonged magnified views that are essentially unaffected by the pitch and roll of the boat. Some birds will spend long periods flying along next to or in proximity t0 the ship. In the spring of 2009, we had a northbound flock of nine Red Knots  that paced the ship for nearly 30 minutes. In other instances, the ship passes right through large feeding flocks of shearwaters, gulls, and storm-petrels as they sit on the water.

On most trips, birds are in view almost continuously, particularly off Oregon; on fall trips that went all the way to Los Angeles we ran into some real dead patches south of Monterey Bay. If you are fortunate enough to hit a good fall flight of Arctic Terns or Sabine's Gulls it is possible to see hundreds and sometimes thousands of each species in a day. Fall trips are recommended if you want to hone your jaeger ID skills. Long-taileds, which often associate with Arctic Tern and Sabine's Gull flocks, are usually the most abundant Stercorarids far offshore; 925 were seen off Oregon on 17 September 2000.  You can also expect to see more South Polar Skuas than you might normally encounter during a near-shore pelagic, where 1-3 birds per trip is the norm; 15 skuas were tallied off Oregon on 22 September 2009.

This highly cooperative South Polar Skua, photographed off Coos County, Oregon on 22 September 2009, cruised along side the Star Princess for several minutes.

Spring trips tend to be better for storm-petrels, gadfly petrels, and albatrosses. Spring cruises have generally yielded large numbers of Leach's and Fork-tailed Storm Petrels, multiple Laysan Albatrosses, and Black-footed Albatrosses into the hundreds. On 3 May 2007, an extremely rare Hornby's Storm-Petrel (sometimes referred to as Ringed Storm-Petrel) flew right below astonished observers 45 miles off Coos County, Oregon. In recent decades, Murphy's Petrels have proven somewhat regular during spring over deeper waters in the North Pacific. During a 8 May 2009 cruise, Murphy's were encountered off of all of  Oregon's seven coastal counties and by day's end no fewer than 38 had been tallied; this species has never been detected during a near-shore trip in Oregon waters.

Spring seems to be the best time to see storm-petrels along the Pacific coast. This Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel was photographed off s. Oregon on 8 May 2009. The day after this photo was taken we found a massive flock of about 8,000 Ashy Storm-Petrels off Point Reyes, California.

These trips range from two and a half to three and a half days and can currently be booked for between $150-300 depending on the size and location of your cabin. Interior cabins are modest, but comfortable, and can be had at the low end of this price scale.  These double occupancy prices include your room and food, plus any non-alcoholic and non-carbonated beverages. If happy hour is part of your day, expect to get a hefty incidentals bill at the end of the trip as alcoholic beverages are no bargain. One must also factor in the travel costs of getting to and from the embarkation and disembarkation ports. I've found that I can usually do an entire trip, including parking fees at the airport, for about $400-500--roughly the cost of three near-shore pelagic trips.

While the chances of getting seasick are by no means eliminated on these massive vessels, most of my travel mates have completely avoided such discomforts. On occasion, we've enjoyed days where the ocean was utterly placid (see below).

A mirror-like ocean surface produces a near-perfect reflection of this Buller's Shearwater off Monterey Bay, California on 30 September 2008. Such conditions enhance the chances of spotting smaller alcids like Cassin's Auklet or Xantus's Murrelet sitting on the water.

If you get tired of looking at birds, you can enjoy the show put on by a variety of marine mammals. Several species of whales, porpoises, dolphins, and seals commonly occur in North Pacific waters. While aboard the Diamond Princess during a September 2007 cruise, we passed within about 75 meters of a "logging" Sperm Whale. Several large pods of Short-beaked Common Dolphins, some numbering into the hundreds, approached the ship on that day. On 22 September 2009, a massive mixed pod (at least 500 animals) of Pilot Whales, Pacific White-sided Dolphins, and Dall's Porpoises appeared off Curry County, Oregon. Using the spray and pray method with a decent digital camera, it is possible to get some fantastic images of airborne dolphins.

Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. I was fortunate to time the jumps of these two Pacific White-sided Dolphins perfectly as they came completely out of the water off southern Oregon on 22 September 2009.

Repositioning cruises offer a wonderful alternative to the typical pelagic birding experience, particularly for those susceptible to seasickness or unable to endure the physical pounding one takes while trying to maintain their balance on the deck of a charter boat for 12 hours. After a long day of birding, it's nice to know a hot shower is only a short walk away. After getting cleaned up, our groups usually reconvene at one of the ship's full service dining rooms for a relaxing and delicious meal. It's fun to see familiar faces year after year and know that a mega-rarity can appear any time on the high seas. During the recent economic slow-down the prices of all cruises have been on the decline. To learn more about repositioning cruises and other cruises that pass through seabird rich waters, consult a travel agent or visit the websites of the major cruise lines.

All photos taken by Dave Irons