Guadalupe Fur Seal Update

Passing on second-hand report from birding forum.

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David Povey on 30 April 2021:

“An interesting marine mammal sighting was a total of three Guadalupe Fur Seals. Two over the deep water near the Thirty Mile Bank, and one near the Nine Mile Bank.

Seems to me that sightings of this species has increased locally in the last four or five years. Still rare, three seen in one day inside the Southern California Bight is remarkable (they are more regularly seen out over the “shelf edge” far to the west of San Diego).”

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This seems to have been a privately organized pelagic trip? I tried to get local pelagic tour operators interested in a dedicated fur seal trip but had no luck. So that means San Diego-originating pelagic trips remain the best short-term option, or one of the Baja / Sea of Cortez longer trips, usually run in spring. (Or just go out of Monterey a bunch in warm water years, hope to turn one up that way.)

Charles Hood, Palmdale, California