Holy Moly!...an APB must have been put out Monday, calling all sea lions, sea gulls and Pelicans to Surfer's Beach right in front of Pillar Point RV Park!  

Not to mention, a very large research ship...

Like I always say, you never know what you will see when you visit Pillar Point RV Park!

The first thing we noticed in the morning were all the pelicans...then a large ship...then here comes an enormous raft of sea lions...and two large whales!  All very hungry and diving like crazy for what seems to be a very large school of fish.   The whole kit and kaboodle would follow those fish all over the bay as they tried to avoid being eaten.   It was fascinating to watch.   The activity spread over two days with multiple whale sightings up close to the jetty.

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After some research, we found out about the ship.The Ocean Starr is owned by Stabbert Maritime in Seattle, Washington. They have six ocean going vessels in their fleet. While the company mainly works with offshore petrochemical companies, they also work with fisheries all over the world.  The Ocean Starr, which was seen Monday at the mouth of the harbor,  provides a broad range of scientific research capabilities with temperature controlled aquaria and live specimen wells, walk-in freezer, dark room, data processing laboratory, and an underwater observation chamber in the bow and port side for studying fish behavior at sea. The ship can cruise at 10 knots.

Also on hand were several Black Oystercatchers.   The Black Oystercatcher is a black bird found along the shoreline of western North America from Alaska to the Baja California peninsula.  The bird has a black body, with a long bright red beak, pink legs and a yellow eye with a red ring.  While the bird is not considered threatened, its global population size is estimated to be only between 8,900–11,000 individuals.

The black oystercatcher eats a variety of invertebrate marine life including mussels, whelks and limpets. Despite its name, it rarely eats oysters! It especially likes to eat creatures that cling to the rocks below the high-tide line.