By Pierre Howard
Our boat left Charleston harbor in the dark at 4:30 AM headed into Georgia waters. After about three hours of steady riding on a calm sea, we crossed into Georgia at about 120 miles off Ossabaw Island.
The trip with five friends was made to photograph rare seabirds that congregate in the Gulf Stream in summer- birds that nest on islands far to the south and then spend the rest of the year at sea, feeding and resting on the water.
Leaving from Charleston is the best way to get to Georgia’s deep water fast. The Georgia Bight, the inward curvature of the Georgia coastline, makes getting to the best birding spots beyond the reach of most boats because of fuel limitations.
To attract birds, we put out a “slick” of menhaden oil and shark’s liver behind the boat, as we glided slowly into the brightness of the May dawn.
The water of the Gulf Stream was a deep sapphire blue, so different from the brownish water inshore. On the horizon, a Cory’s Shearwater sailed just above the gentle waves. Our largest shearwater, Cory’s is brown on the back and white underneath with long wings.
Soon, the captain shouted that there were birds on the water ahead. It was two Manx Shearwaters, small shearwaters that are black above and gleaming white below, with white undertail coverts and a small white crescent behind the cheek.
Once thought to be rare in Georgia waters, more Manx are being seen with an increase in pelagic trips. (The term “pelagic trips” refers to birding from a boat in the open ocean, often far from land.) The Manx pair finally took flight and relocated a short distance way.
Now, Wilson’s Storm-Petrels were dancing in the wake over the menhaden oil, looking for prey to pick from the surface. A Band-rumped Storm-Petrel, larger and longer-winged than the Wilson’s came gliding in, as did a Leach’s Storm-Petrel.
As the sun got hotter, we began to see Black-capped Petrels, a threatened seabird that nests on in the mountains of Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica. Some experienced Georgia birders have seen only a few Black-caps in their life. This day we would see over fifty of them, sometimes in flocks. From the horizon, a large dark bird was streaking toward the boat.
As it continued to approach and come in close, we could see that it was a light phase Pomarine Jaeger.
This fearsome bird lives at sea by stealing fish from other birds, while on its arctic nesting grounds, it survives on a diet of brown lemmings. We fed it a Spanish sardine or two, which it grabbed and swallowed whole.
Some fluffy white clouds formed a phalanx across on the southern horizon, as if resting on the water far away. It was a day of incredible beauty at sea. Pristine was a word that came to mind.
Loggerhead turtles, dolphins, flying fish, Sargasso grass - all living in pure, clean water.
The thought of BP’s oil ruining a place of such vibrant beauty and fragile life is unthinkable. I imagined how the people on the Gulf Coast must feel. Their frustration and anger give way to a determination to act to save a way of life. The BP oil would threaten the life of everything I saw that day.
We must have the courage to fight, and fight we will. BP: keep your mitts off Georgia
