Warm water seabird makes surprise visit to Monterey Bay

The Monterey Bay attracts visitors from around the world, but on January 9, 2017, a certain seabird showed up and researchers say that bird was very far from home.

The seabird was a brown booby, a breed generally associated with warm tropical waters. According to the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, the birds breed at colonies in the Hawaiian Islands and islands in Mexico.

When the bird shows up in Monterey Bay, it’s usually because water temperatures have warmed due to an El Niño. Last February, more than 30 were spotted in one day.

Water temperatures are cooler this year, which makes the brown booby’s arrival somewhat surprising. Scientists say it’s likely the bird hitched a ride on the Pineapple Express, the jet of moist air that blew across the Pacific Ocean from Hawaii to California earlier this month.

MBARI says the bird spent a few minutes watching researchers work aboard the Rachel Carson research boat before flying away to parts unknown.