Ironic that Debi of Shearwater Journeys described her trips on the Calbirds listserv this morning as "friendly, inclusive," and then she proceeds to direct readers to her blog with the heading, "Monterey Seabirds with Shearwater Journeys." This is what is known as meta tagging to direct web searches to her website by using the name of a competitor in the heading of the blog post.
Apparently there is nothing illegal about doing that. I could do it too (actually I am doing just that right now) but I'm sorry it just seems slimy. Of course this isn't the first time. It was done repeatedly on her blog last year. It isn't as egregious using our name in the heading for her ads in Winging It magazine. "Monterey Seabirding with Shearwater Journeys.
Her website schedule page is headlined, "Monterey Seabirding with Shearwater Journeys."
I have a lot of respect for Debi. Her stamina in doing so many pelagics trip per year is impressive and I have tried to work with her schedule to avoid conflicting dates but this sort of behavior is vexing.
Nobody likes being bullied and that's why we're here.
Best,
Roger for Monterey Seabirds