I just spent 6 weeks in the Gulf of Mexico. I was looking for oiled seabirds. I got to go on the NOAA Research Vessel Oregon II – twice. It was a great boat.
A few bird highlights include: Sooty and Bridled Terns, Brown Noddy, Magnifient Frigatebirds, Red-billed Tropicbirds, Great Shearwater, Audubon’s Shearwater, Cory’s Shearwater, Wilson’s and Band-rumped Storm-petrels.
Marine mammals included Melon-headed Whales, Atlantic and Pantropical Spoted Dolphins and Rough-toothed Dolphins.
My favorite sighting were of the sea turtles - 4 species – Loggerhead, Hawksbill, Green, and Leatherback.
I’m inserting a picutre of a Magnificinet Frigatebird and a Great Shearwater.
