Westport Seabirds Staff Members

Captain Todd Sawin
Todd has spent much of his life on the water. As a U.S. Coast Guard licensed captain with decades of boating experience, he developed a lifelong appreciation for the Pacific Ocean and its rich marine life. Although a relative newcomer to birding, Todd quickly became hooked on the challenge and excitement of finding albatrosses, shearwaters, storm-petrels, and other pelagic species offshore. Today, he brings together his passion for the ocean, marine wildlife, and adventure to provide safe, comfortable, and unforgettable pelagic birding experiences aboard the Blitz

 

 

 

Bill Tweit
Bill has been going on pelagic trips out of Westport since 1974, became a trip leader in 1977, and has extensive experience with seabirds of the eastern North Pacific. He co-authored the Birds of Washington; Status and Distribution along with Terry Wahl and Steve Mlodinow, and has co-authored several research papers with Terry Wahl using data from Westport Seabirds trips. He is also an eBird reviewer for Washington, and for several decades was the North American Birds Regional Editor for the Oregon/Washington region. He enjoys sharing the seabirds and marine mammals of the Washington coast with birders from all parts of the world, and feels privileged to have the opportunity to spend time at sea in the productive waters of the California Current .
 

Bruce LaBar
Bruce has been a spotter for Westport Seabirds since 1991, and prior a spotter for Shearwater Journeys in California. I have been fortunate to be on over 300 pelagic trips out of Westport!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gene Revelas
Gene Revelas has been spotting birds for Westport Seabirds since 1998. Gene started birding at age 12 in eastern Massachusetts. He is a professional oceanographer and is currently a senior scientist at a marine environmental consulting firm in Olympia, WA. His birding, academic, and career interests have provided him with at-sea birding experience on both sides of the North Atlantic, in the Gulf of Mexico, and along the Pacific coast from California to Alaska

 

 

Cara Borre

Cara joined the Westport Seabirds team in 2015. Cara is a graduate of Seattle Audubon’s Washington Master Birder class and continues to enjoy learning about birds and sharing this knowledge with new birders. her love of the sea and discovery helped foster her special interest in pelagic birding where she considers every outing a unique opportunity that can’t be found anywhere else on earth. Participating in adding to the longest running seabird survey also helps feed her desire to give back to the birds we enjoy so much via conservation of their habitat.

 

Charlie Wright

Charlie’s seabird obsession began with his first Westport Seabirds trip as an 11-year-old birder. Since then he’s spent a great deal of time studying seabirds in remote parts of the world, including months on research vessels in the Chukchi and Bering Seas. Seabird surveys also brought him to Antarctica, where he counted seabirds on many crossings of the Drake Passage. When not in the field, he is the Data Verifier for COASST, a citizen science program documenting beached seabird patterns from northern California to Alaska.

 

 

Bill Shelmerdine
Bill has been with Westport Seabirds since 2002. Since his first offshore trip in 1970, he has been on numerous West Coast pelagic trips from Washington to Mexico.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jim Danzenbaker
Jim is a lifelong sea birding enthusiast with 35 years of pelagic guiding experience along the East and West Coasts of North America in addition to other international locations. He has been a Westport Seabirds leader for over a decade. He has presented numerous seabird identification classes and is eager to share his knowledge of pelagic birds with anyone who will listen.

 

 

Bob Archer

Bob started his pelagic birding off Maine in the 1970’s.  Bob has extensive experience sailing and birding up and down the Pacific coast as well.  He enjoys sharing his love of the ocean.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shep Thorp

Shep’s narrative of his impressive birding knowledge and experience is coming soon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Matt Dufort

Matt grew up in New Jersey, and fell in love with pelagic birding on the Atlantic coast before moving to Washington in 2003. He’s been a regular on Westport Seabirds trips ever since, and joined the team in 2026. When not spotting birds offshore, he can be found watching for seabirds in Puget Sound near his home in Seattle. He has birded throughout the world, and always tries to get offshore just to see what’s out there.

                                                                   

Phil Anderson
Phil  has been with Westport Seabirds since 1985. Phil has operated charter boats along the Washington coast for  50 years. His experience includes serving as Captain on over 600 Westport Seabird trips dating back to 1985. Phil also has extensive experience in managing west coast federal, international and state water fisheries. 

 

 

 

 

Ryan Merrill
Ryan’s picture and narrative of his impressive birding knowledge and experience is coming soon!

Cindy McCormick

Cindy’s  picture and narrative of his impressive birding knowledge and experience is coming soon!