Attu aboard the Spirit of Oceanus: Sep 07—24, 2006
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Departs: Anchorage, Alaska
Tour Limit: 106
Download Itinerary: PDF (165.1 KB)
Tour Leaders
Steve Hilty
Steve Hilty is the senior author of A Guide to the Birds of Colombia, and the recently published Birds of Venezuela, both by Pr...Thede Tobish
Thede Tobish graduated from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and has birded, traveled, performed research, and led bird tour...
Jeri Langham
Jeri M. Langham has a Ph.D. in plant ecology from Washington State University and has been a professor of biological sciences a...Pete Dunne
Pete Dunne is a birder/writer, founder of the World Series of Birding, Director of Natural History Information for the New Jers...
Marshall Iliff
Marshall Iliff, a lifelong nature lover, began birding at age 11 after attending a National Wildlife Federation Camp in the mou...
Barry Zimmer
Barry Zimmer has been birding since the age of eight. His main areas of expertise lie in North and Central America, but his tra...Steve Heinl
Steve Heinl grew up in Oregon, where he began birding at a young age. He earned a B.S. in biology from the University of Oregon...Larry Balch
Larry Balch has had an avid interest in birds for over 40 years, and has birded all 50 states and 7 continents. As its presiden...
Victor Emanuel
Victor Emanuel started birding in Texas 60 years ago at the age of eight. His travels have taken him to all the continents, wit...More Information
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Photo Galleries:
Tour Reports:
- Nov 01, 06: Attu Cruise
- Sep 27, 06: Day 17, September 24, 2006. Petro.
- Sep 27, 06: Day 16, September 23, 2006. Russian listing.
- Sep 27, 06: Day 15, September 21, 2006. Day 8 on Attu. New turf and a new bird for all.
- Sep 27, 06: Day 14, September 20, 2006. Day 7on Attu. Back to Alexai.
- Sep 27, 06: Day 13, September 19, 2006. Day 6 on Attu.
- Sep 20, 06: Day 12, September 18, 2006. Day 5 on Attu.
- Sep 20, 06: Day 11, September 17, 2006, Day 4 on Attu.
- Sep 19, 06: Day 10, September 16, 2006. Day 3 on Attu.
- Sep 18, 06: Day 9, September 15, 2006. Day 2 on Attu.
- Sep 15, 06: Day 8, September 14, 2006. Day 1 on Attu.
- Sep 15, 06: Day 7, September 13, 2006. Thar She Blows!
- Sep 14, 06: Day 6, September 12, 2006. The Mother of the Mother of the Mother.
- Sep 14, 06: Day 5, September 11, 2006. Whiskers and Babies.
- Sep 14, 06: Day 4, September 10, 2006. The Mother of the Mother of all Pelagics.
- Sep 14, 06: Day 3, September 9, 2006. The Mother of all Pelagics.
- Sep 12, 06: Day 2, September 8, 2006. Anchorage area and departure from Whittier.
- Sep 12, 06: Day 1, September 7, 2006. Arrival in Anchorage & Field Trips.
- Sep 12, 06: Attu aboard the Spirit of Oceanus Cruise Log
Past Birdlists:
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The Spirit of Oceanus — Photo: Courtesy of Cruise West |
A one-of-a-kind opportunity to visit legendary Attu island in total comfort as we go in search of such rarely encountered seabirds as Short-tailed Albatross, Mottled Petrel, and Whiskered Auklet, as well as vagrant shorebirds and songbirds from Asia.
Our 2006 Attu trip was so successful that we have decided to offer it again in September 2009. Birders will be able to spend a week at Attu while enjoying the comforts of the lovely Spirit of Oceanus. Then we will continue on to Petropavlovsk and board our flight back to Anchorage.
Our September 2006 Attu cruise exceeded all our expectations. The pelagic birding along the entire Aleutian chain was amazing. Highlights included one-and-a-half-million Short-tailed Shearwaters, 300 Laysan Albatross, 10 Short-tailed Albatross, 60 Mottled Petrels, 100 Whiskered Auklets, 30 humpback whales, and 60 orcas.
Attu itself was an incredible experience. Using Zodiacs, we were able to cover all the best birding areas without extremely long walks, and then return to a comfortable ship. Every day on Attu was wonderful, with something new to enjoy: Tufted Ducks, Sky Larks, Common Snipe, a Spotted Redshank, Sharp-tailed and Wood sandpipers, Gray-tailed Tattlers, and, best of all, a Baikal Teal. We ended our time on Attu visiting Ettienne Bay, where Barry Zimmer found a Yellow-browed Warbler, a third North American record.
Two nights in Anchorage; excellent accommodations and food on a superb ship all other nights; lots of walking on loose gravel; Zodiac rides to disembark on the island with some wet landings; cool to cold conditions.