Date: 3/28/26 8:27 am From: Cara Borre via Tweeters <tweeters...> Subject: [Tweeters] Westport Seabirds Trip Report March 22, 2026
Westport Seabirds had an outstanding start to our 50th season on Sunday,
March 22.
As many of you know, Phil and Chris Anderson, who carried us aboard the
Monte Carlo for 50 years of exceptional sea birding in the Pacific
Northwest, have sold the boat and are passing the business along to
Westport native Todd Sawin and his wife Ann. Todd has been affiliated with
charter fishing in Westport most of his life. He acquired his boat the
Blitz a few years ago and it underwent an extensive restoration in 2024.
The Blitz is uniquely equipped to provide Westport Seabirds participants
with a comfortable interior cabin and roomy exterior observation decks. We
welcome Todd and family (his sons or father will crew our trips) to the
Westport Seabirds family, and look forward to sharing many great adventures
for years to come.
While we open this new chapter, we can’t help but reflect on the five
decades of memories made possible by Phil and Chris. The birding and
scientific community is beholden to the Andersons for making Westport
Seabirds what it is today, the longest running pelagic operator in the
North Pacific with 50 years of invaluable seabird and ocean related data.
They built a seagoing experience with a strong foundation in personal
service. From booking your reservation, to Chris’ well-timed ginger snap
offerings, to encouraging spotters to understand your goals and to help you
achieve them.
They provided the logistics for Westport Seabirds, but more importantly,
they made each journey a unique and lasting memory. We wish the Andersons
well in retirement and hope to “sea them out there” occasionally.
Unfortunately, we also have difficult news to share. Scott Mills, a leader
on our trips for 25 years, our friend and mentor, passed away earlier this
year. Scott had enduring enthusiasm for birding and a deep commitment to
teaching others about the natural history of birds and marine wildlife.
Whether it was the identification nuisances between Short-tailed and Sooty
Shearwater, which ecotype of orca we encountered, or where Buller's
Shearwater or Laysan Albatross breed, Scott was often the one who shared
that knowledge.
He was truly one of a kind and will be deeply missed. We hope you will
join us in remembering Scott as we honor him by continuing to share his
passion for education and discovery as we explore the world beyond our
shores.
Please find a detailed eBird trip report with photos and a narrative
written by leader Bill Tweit below. We encourage participants to upload
photos to their checklists so those images are available to all in
perpetuity. I have copied Bill’s narrative and included it here as well.
This was the first Westport Seabirds pelagic trip in several decades that
was not on the F/V Monte Carlo. Since the Monte Carlo was sold over the
winter, and moved to another port, Westport Seabirds has engaged a new
vessel and skipper. Todd Sawin is the captain of the F/V Blitz, assisted by
Phil Anderson. Observers were Bill Tweit, Ryan Merrill and Cara Borre, also
assisted by Phil.
For weather reasons and ocean conditions, this trip was moved from Saturday
21 Mar to the 22nd. Fortunately most of the participants who were
registered for Saturday were able to go on Sunday. We left the dock at 0605
in the dark, and encountered the worst weather and ocean of the day as we
headed out the Grays Harbor channel and over the bar, which was quite rough
and slow-going in the rain. Once we reached the outermost buoy at 0710,
there was enough daylight to begin birding and enjoying a relatively calm
ocean, and we had left the rain behind. Our route was determined in part by
our desire to have the afternoon wind at our backs on the way in. We headed
SW towards Willapa Canyon, reaching the heart of the canyon in 2.5 hours.
On the way to the canyon, we encountered a feeding aggregation of Pacific
White-sided Dolphins that had brought in hundreds of kittiwakes, a couple
hundred Sooty Shearwaters, five early Pink-footed Shearwaters and a
surprising number of Pomarine Jaegers in a wide mix of plumages. We also
encountered many large rafts of Vellela, some live and some closer into
shore appeared to be dead. Large numbers are currently washing up on
beaches. This iNaturalist article covers much of what is known about them (
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/59698-Velella-velella).
Our chum stop over the canyon did not bring in a lot of birds, so we
decided to head north in the deep water (over 2000' or 350 fathoms) which
were relatively bird less. Once we turned east and were back over the
shelf, bird abundance and diversity picked up. Our route took us past a
boat fishing for hagfish or slime eels (
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/100268-Eptatretus-stoutii); it was
attended by several albatross including an immature Short-tailed Albatross.
Further east, we encountered a couple of small flocks of Parakeet Auklets
and Ancient Murrelets and then found a large flock of shearwaters on the
water including at least one Manx. Also found a group of four Humpback
Whales that offered a few good looks. From there we headed to Grays Harbor,
where we found more feeding flocks off of the south jetty and in the mouth
of the channel.
