Pelagic birds are seabirds that spend the large majority of their lives out at sea. Many species will only visit land once to breed. In September of last year, I had the pleasure of making a trip out to the edge of the continental shelf in the Gulf of Mexico to view and photograph these incredible animals.

This selection includes the “true pelagic” species that we spotted out in the open waters of the Gulf. The birds in this illustration roughly to scale.