The Pacific coast of western South America is one of the best destinations in the world to board a boat and go looking for pelagic seabirds like albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters.
One of the best of such trips is Birding the Humboldt Current, a pelagic off the port city of Valparaiso in central Chile, where the cold waters of the Humboldt Current and their rich life lie just a few miles offshore. On this pelagic trip, we expect to see a great variety of tubenoses such as Northern Royal, Antipodean, Salvin’s, Buller’s and Black-browed albatrosses. Chatham Island and Antipodean albatrosses are regularly recorded as well as Southern Royal Albatross. We should also find Southern and Northern Giant Petrels, Southern Fulmar, White-chinned, Westland and Pintado petrels, Pink-footed, Sooty and Buller’s shearwaters, and Pterodroma or gadfly petrels, including Juan Fernandez and Masatierra petrels. Small tubenoses of other families include Wilson’s Storm Petrel and Peruvian Diving Petrel. These waters are also frequented by some interesting marine mammals, both cetaceans like Fin and Humpback whales, Sperm Whale and Killer Whale, and Bottlenose, Dusky and Southern Right-whale dolphins, Pinnipeds like South American Sea Lion and Mustelids like Southern Sea Otter. Marine turtles and big Squid are also part of the marine wildlife here, not to mention the biggest stock of fisheries in the world, like anchovy, sardine and jack mackerel. pelagic trips in chile
