The near-shore avifauna of the coast of California is as well known as that of any state. To a large extent, our knowledge is based on the pioneering work of Leverett M. Loomis (1896a, 1896b, 1900a, 1900b and 1918) and, particularly, Rollo H. Beck (1910), who collected large and important series of seabirds in the vicinity of Monterey Bay early in this century and documented the regular occurrence of several species that were not known to be present in California waters. In recent years, offshore birdwatching trips from selected points, but principally from Monterey and San Diego, have provided important supplementary data on migration patterns and abundance, although the data remain to be analyzed in detail. Even the most ambitious of these excursions, however, has had a maximum duration of about 20 hours. Observations more than about 60 miles from shore are almost lacking, and long term observations far offshore remain to be attempted.