Cape May Pelagic – Northern Fulmars

One of the species I was most excited to see on the February 4th Cape May pelagic was the Northern Fulmar. I had only previously seen one before – a molting dark type on a whale watching trip out of Santa Barbara, California. Luckily on the Cape May pelagic, we encountered 16 Northern Fulmars! All of the birds we saw were light types and most had beautiful new feathers throughout their body, except for one bird that was mid-molt. Below are a few photos I took of the fulmars once we were able to lure a few in close to the boat.

Northern Fulmar - light type (Photo by Alex Lamoreaux)

Northern Fulmar - light type (Photo by Alex Lamoreaux)

Northern Fulmar - light type (Photo by Alex Lamoreaux)

Northern Fulmar - This was the only fulmar we saw that was currently undergoing molt. (Photo by Alex Lamoreaux)

Northern Fulmar - light type with a bit of dead Dovekie (Photo by Alex Lamoreaux)

Northern Fulmar - a nice size comparison with Northern Gannet (Photo by Alex Lamoreaux)