^{Photo by JJ Harrison (https://www.jjharrison.com.au/)}

One usually needs to venture out of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and into the Pacific Ocean to enjoy the company of Shearwaters. These incredible, dynamic ocean fliers are famously nimble relatives of the more well known albatrosses. Recently, this fall 2025, the Salish Sea was happy host to a record number of Short Tailed Shearwaters (Ardenna tenuirostris).

Alert Graduate Geoff sent me the linked article, a delightful accounting of this bountiful visitation, written by wildlife biologist and Shearwater specialist Stephen Carr Hampton. It is posted in the Salish Current Newsletter. Click below for a short and enriching read.

https://salish-current.org/2025/12/12/shearwaters-visit-salish-sea-in-record-numbers/