Date: 8/28/26 12:10 pm From: Dennis Paulson via Tweeters <tweeters...> Subject: [Tweeters] El Niño effects
Hello tweets,
I’m sure most of you have heard about the unparalleled irruption of Elegant Terns into our coastal waters, and maybe you know about the three species of boobies that are in our state at present. They are presumably fleeing extremely poor feeding conditions off of western Mexico because of El Niño.
But I have noticed something quite odd about this year, the lower-than-usual numbers of Brown Pelicans and Heermann’s Gulls in our waters. We have consistently seen fewer than expected numbers of both of these species in trips to the outer coast, and that seems very odd.
I think of both of these southern species as making long flights to the Pacific Northwest each summer to take advantage of our more productive waters. So why aren’t they here in even greater numbers this summer?
So I’m curious to find out if others have noticed this as well.
