LEWES, DE - An unusual seabird never before seen in Atlantic waters was reportedly spotted during a voyage on the Cape May-Lewes Ferry earlier this month.
According to the American Birding Association (ABA), Cape May-Lewes Ferry passenger Christy Hibsch captured photos of a mysterious bird on May 11, 2025. With a streaked white head, pale scalloping on the wings, and thin gray bill, the seabird differed from the usual Atlantic shearwaters seen in the Delaware Bay. Hibsch shared the photos with the seabirding community, according to the ABA, and experts quickly identified the bird as a Streaked Shearwater.
According to the ABA), the Streaked Shearwater breeds on the Japanese archipelago, Korea, and coastal China and Russia. In the nonbreeding season, the seabird inhabits a large area of ocean from Indonesia to Australasia. Though the Streaked Shearwater has been spotted in Oregon, California, and even once in Wyoming, ornithologists say sightings of the species in the Atlantic Ocean have never been documented before.
The ABA says the sighting is another of many vagrant seabirds showing up in “the wrong ocean” in an ongoing trend. The root of that reported trend is uncertain, according to the ABA, but could be due to increased coverage by birders with more advanced cameras and possibly warming seas.
“Whatever the basis of this ongoing phenomenon, these spectacular vagrants represent a fascinating case study for curious birders,” Tim Healy with the ABA writes. “Such records highlight the incredible dispersal capabilities of seabirds, further serving to underscore the interconnectedness of our planet’s ocean ecosystems.”