Species list for the 26th July 2014 SOSSA pelagic - Wollongong NSW
Complied by Graham Barwell
Here's a list of what was seen on the boat outside the harbour on Saturday 26 July. It uses the BARC Australian Checklist (v2014 Jan. based on IOC v4.1) for taxonomy, nomenclature & order of species and gives fairly conservative numbers. For the commoner species the numbers are estimates. There's also a .jpg file from Google Earth showing our route.
Wandering Albatross
Leaving at 07.10 hrs we travelled out, with a brief stop en route to look at a probable Dwarf Minke Whale and band a Brown Skua, to 34° 29' 42" S; 151° 16' 23" E, 34.5 km E of Wollongong Harbour in 300+m pelagic waters, where we stopped, chummed and drifted 2.11 km SE in a 0.5 knot current, 10.46-12.05 hrs, catching and banding a Shy and 3 Indian Yellow-nosed Albatrosses and where the Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross was seen by some, then turned back in stopping at 34° 29' 30" S; 151° 12' 45" E, 29 km E of the harbour in 160+m shelf waters, where we tried without success to catch and band a Buller's Albatross, 13.45-14.04 hrs. After a couple more brief stops, we arrived back in the harbour at 16.10 hrs. Seas were fairly calm with the low swell. Sea temperature was c. 17° inshore and c. 18° at the shelf edge.
Buller's Albatross
Maximum number seen at any one time in brackets
086 Wandering Albatross 2 (2) 1 male and 1 female
846 Antipodean Albatross 3 (2) all presumed gibsoni
Wandering Albatross type 1 (1) 1 juvenile
088 Black-browed Albatross 15+ (15) adult
859 Campbell Albatross 2 (2) adult
Black-browed/Campbell Albatross 15+ (10) immature
091 Shy Albatross 5+ (3) adult and immature
089 Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross 1 (1) to be confirmed by BARC, good photos taken. Photos available here
864 Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross 10+ (7) adult and immature
931 Buller's Albatross 3 (1) one appeared to have a broken leg
083 Fairy Prion 5+ (1)
971 Providence Petrel 10+ (3)
068 Fluttering Shearwater 120+ (100+)
106 Australian Pelican 1 (1)
104 Australasian Gannet 5+ (2) adult and immature
125 Silver Gull 200 (100)
981 Kelp Gull 3 (3) adult and immature
115 Greater Crested Tern 8+ (8)
114 White-fronted Tern 2 (1)
980 Brown Skua 5+ (4)
A probable Dwarf Minke Whale surfaced briefly near us on the way out and 1+ Humpback Whales were seen on the return trip. No dolphins or seals were seen.
Cheers
Graham
Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross