Oregon Pelagic Tours

07/15/2026

As the summer/fall pelagic season gets underway, I just wanted to highlight the “bread & butter” species of Black-footed Albatross, a species that we have not “missed” in over 20 years.

06/21/2026

OPT Updates!
We at Oregon Pelagic Tours are excited to start our 2026 pelagic season! This year, we are not only offering our normal 8-hour pelagics ot of Newport (8/29, 9/20. 10/11, 12/5) and Garibaldi (9/13, 10/4), but have several special tours planned. All OPT trips have spaces available.

The first of these is a short, 6-hour tour out of Newport on July19th. This tour is ideal for those who still hope to see albatross and other typical seabird species, but don't want to spend a full day on the ocean. We would love to see a few more birders on this trip.

Next up is the All-Women's Pelagic out of Garibaldi on August 16th. This trip is currently full, but we are accepting names for the waitlist, as not all participants have paid, and therefore one or two spots may still open up.

The third special trip is a 10-hour Newport trip on September 27th, which will offer county listers the opportunity to visit Lane County. This trip is a little over half-full and needs more sign-up to be sure to go.

More more information, please visit he Schedule and Reservations pages of the Oregon Pelagic Tours website.

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05/06/2026

Holland America repositioning cruise 🚢 - April 2026 Tim Shelmerdine Ed Corey Leisyka Namitz Russ Namitz

05/05/2026

Some photos from our “birds, wine and cheese” tour. We started in Corsica, and are in the mountains now. Today was amazing, as we got very good looks at all our Corsican endemics: Corsican Nuthatch, Corsican Finch, Marmora Warbler, Moltoni’s Warbler and while not an endemic, great views of Lammergeier (Bearded Vulture). Amazing food and wine at lunches and dinners. Sorry, birding friends, no great bird photos.

05/03/2026

04/28/2026

Marine mammals as well as pelagic birds are always a highlight on a Holland America "repositioning" cruise off the West Coast (San Diego to Vancouver, BC, April 2026).

Featured below is an adult Pomarine Jaeger and a pod of Dall's Porpoises.

04/27/2026

Just 1 of a number of Laysan Albatrosses on our spring 2026 "repositioning" cruise aboard the Eurodam ship of Holland America. Russ Namitz Tim ShelmerdineEd CoreyLeisyka Namitz

01/15/2026

Oregon Pelagic Tours wishes everyone a 2026 filled with good times, adventures and great birds. We had a difficult 2025, but are excited about the possibilities for the upcoming year. Those who periodically visit our website will have seen that the 2026 pelagic schedule has been published.
I'd like to highlight a couple of trips. Our spring repositioning cruise will be on the Eurodam from April 20 to April 24. This trip starts in San Diego and ends in Vancouver, B.C. It is already almost halfway filled. The 2027 dates are also set.
We are again excited to offer an All-Women Pelagic -- boat crew, guides and passengers. This trip will go out from Garibaldi on Sunday, August 16, with Skipper Tamara at the helm.
Lastly, we had a special request for a pelagic to Lane County waters. Because of the distance, this will have to be a 10-hour trip. It will need around 22 committed birders to run. We are waiting to confirm the date with the charter.
Oregon Pelagic Tours looks forward to providing birders with opportunities to see albatross, shearwaters and other seabirds, and marine mammals. We hope you will join us in 2026.

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12/17/2025

The Year 2025 in Review
We have just come off the most frustrating year since Oregon Pelagic Tours began operations in 2015. On the calendar, we had a repostioning cruise and 10 pelagic trips scheduled, 11 with an attempt to reschedule. Two (Ilwaco in April and a Newport intro trip in July) failed to garner sufficient sign-up to run. Our Garibaldi boat had mechanical issues and forced us to cancel the All-Womens pelagic in August, its make-up date in September, and our September Garibaldi trip. Lastly the weather, always a consideration, prevented both our October Newport trips and our December trip from going out. Thus the only trips that made it out were August 30 (Newport), September 21 (Newport), and October 5 (Garibaldi). Fortunately, our Spring Repositioning Cruise onboard the Zaandam was well attended and so OPT started the year well, however a success rate of 33% does not bode well for profitablity.

Despite the difficult year in 2025, we are looking forward to a better 2026! Our 2026 Pelagic Schedule will be online before Christmas.

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10/20/2025

UPDATE FROM MAY 2025 REPO CRUISE: Josh McInnes at the Oceanic Research Alliance California Current Killer Whale Study.

“I matched the adult male killer whale you encountered offshore Fort Bragg California as OCX068. This is only the second time he has ever been documented. We first encountered him in 2023 near the Davidson SeaMount, where he was travelling with two other females.

The two females that you encountered with him have not been documented, and we gave them new photo-IDs. OCX079 and OCX080.

We believe these whales belong to a far offshore population of oceanic killer whales that specialize in hunting marine mammals.

Thanks again for sharing with us!”