PORT O'CONNOR
PELAGIC TRIP REPORT III - September 30, 1995 Aboard the Chip XI
Report Transcribed from 1996 Texas Deepwater Pelagic Trips Newsletter
Copyrighted By: Dwight Peake and Mark Elwonger
1996 Pelagic Season Finishes with a Splash
The third and final trip of the pelagic season was staged from Port O'Connor
on September 30. Many birders were turned away from this trip because they
waited too late to sign up. We shattered the record for the most Audubon's
Shearwaters seen in Texas waters in one day (200), and saw six other pelagic
species, including Cory's Shearwaters, Leach's Storm-Petrels, Masked Boobies,
Pomarine Jaegers, and Bridled and Sooty Terns. We also saw three species of
marine mammals and four whale sharks! Pelagic trips have become established
in Texas, and Port O'Connor is the birding frontier.
