This is an overnight trip designed to give us more time out in the deep waters at the edge of the Continental Shelf. We have run several 8-person charters like this in the past and have found some excellent birds over the past several years including White-faced Storm-Petrel, Long-tailed Jaeger, Sabine's Gull, Arctic Tern, and Bridled Tern. We have also found deep water cetaceans including Cuvier's Beaked Whale and Sperm Whale.
Target birds include Cory's, Greater, Manx*, and Audubon's Shearwaters, White-faced, Wilson's and Leach's* Storm-Petrel, Red-necked Phalarope, South Polar Skua, Pomarine, Parasitic, and Long-tailed Jaegers, and Common, Arctic, Black, and Bridled Terns. If the water is warm and blue, Audubon's can be the most common shearwater and Bridled Tern fairly regular. A Sabine's Gull was even found from the 2006 Lewes overnight charter as well.
There is no way we'll see ALL these birds, but these are the birds we would expect to see over the course of several summer trips. Some are virtually guaranteed (e.g. Wilson's Storm-Petrel) and others are much less expected (marked with *).
We will also be looking for marine mammals. Some of the possibilities at this time of year are Fin Whale, Humpbacked Whale, Short-finned Pilot Whale, Bottlenose Dolphin, Common Dolphin, and Risso's Dolphin. As noted above, Cuvier's Beaked Whale has been seen on two of our overnight charters, and Sperm Whale was seen on one overnight trip.
We plan on heading out into the deep waters of Baltimore Canyon. We hope to explore waters over 1,000 fathoms (6,000 feet) deep, as well as the canyon edges. On past overnight trips, we have motored out slowly and arrive at our starting point in the dark. Once we arrive, we drift and chum. If you wish, you can trip to fish for tuna though be aware that you should be in reasonable physical shape if you want to fight one of these bruisers. On our 2006 trip, we caught one fish that weighed close to 90 pounds, and it took over an hour to land it. You may also sleep, though be warned that sleeping accomodations will be tight and are restricted to the deck and benches (if you can fit).
After dawn, we plan to motor down our chum slick to see if we have attracted anything of interest. After that, we will continue birding in the deep and should eventually work our way back along the canyon. Note that we expect to troll some lures along the way. Fishing is not a focus of this trip, but we will probably put out a few lines. (We will, of course, be fishing in the dark.) IF FISHING ON A PELAGIC BOTHERS YOU, PLEASE CONSIDER THIS TRIP CAREFULLY.
Our itinerary is always tentative. The actual route taken will depend upon the Captain's knowledge of current water temperature and bait conditions, what we encounter during the trip, and attempting to maintain a comfortable ride for everybody.
Be sure to check out our Preparations section before booking a reservation for this trip!