Leach's Storm-Petrels in New York State
We took advantage of a favorable offshore window in early June and decided to do an overnight pelagic fishing trip out to the deep water south of the continental shelf break. John Shemilt, Angus Wilson and I left Shinnecock Inlet on the morning of June 3, 2016. We were just on the heels of a fun day trip the previous weekend, 5/29, where we encountered good diversity and hoped to repeat our success. We set CLIII's autopilot due southeast of Shinnecock toward Ryan and McMaster Canyon (aka The Claw) where we planned on searching for a noteworthy temperature break in and around the deep water at the bottom of the continental shelf edge at 1000 fathoms. It was in this area that we would encounter record breaking numbers of Leach's Storm-Petrel while in the middle of a midnight feeding frenzy. Most Leach' Storm-Petrels breed in the northwest and northeast Atlantic where they nest within burrows on rocky islands. The closest colonies to offshore New York waters are off the coa