• Sunday 28th June 2015 SOSSA PELAGIC TRIP, KIAMA, NSW, AUSTRALIA.

    Here's what was seen outside the harbour on the second SOSSA pelagic from Kiama on the MV Kato on Sunday 28 June 2015. It uses the BARC Australian Checklist (v2015 Jan. based on IOC v5.1) 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.


    Campbell Albatross

    Leaving at 07.30 hrs, we travelled at c. 8.5 knots/16 kph out past the shelf edge to 34° 41’ 14” S; 151° 12’ 00” E, 31 km E of Kiama harbour in 290 m+ pelagic waters, where we stopped chummed, caught and banded a Buller’s Albatross, drifting c. 100m E in a weak current, 09.50-10.22 hrs, then moved further east out to 34° 44’ 30” S; 151° 12’ 57” E, 33.5 km E of the harbour in 300m+ pelagic waters, where we stopped, chummed, caught and banded 1 Shy Albatross, 1 Buller’s Albatross and several Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross, drifting 600m E, 10.50-11.50 hrs, then moved a short distance away and tried unsuccessfully to lure in an immature Northern Giant Petrel, 12.00-12.25 hrs. We then turned back in closer to the shelf edge, travelling to 34° 43’ 42” S; 151° 08’ 20” E, 26.3 km E of the harbour in 200m+ waters, where we stopped and chummed without being able to attract much birdlife, 12.55-13.55 hrs, then continued back into the harbour, arriving at 15.35 hrs.


    Gibson's Albatross

    Seas fairly calm with a low 1 m swell from the south. Sea temperature 19° inshore and out at the shelf edge.

    847 Antipodean Albatross 1 (1) thought to be a female gibsoni
    088 Black-browed Albatross 5+ (2) adults
    859 Campbell Albatross 2+ (1) adults
    Black-browed/Campbell Albatross 1 (1) young bird
    091 Shy Albatross 5+ (2) both cauta and steadi considered present, based on bill colour, outer underwing colouration and moult
    864 Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross 20+ (14) almost all adults, but 1 immature present
    931 Buller’s Albatross 4 (2) adults
    937 Northern Giant Petrel 1 (1) immature
    080 Cape Petrel 1 (1)
    083 Fairy Prion 50+ (5) despite careful scanning, all birds seen were this species
    971 Providence Petrel 5+ (2)
    068 Fluttering Shearwater 2 (1)
    Fluttering/Hutton’s Shearwater 1 (1)
    104 Australasian Gannet 20+ (4) adults and immatures
    098 Great Cormorant 1 (1) just outside the harbour
    125 Silver Gull 10+ (5)
    981 Kelp Gull 1 (1) just outside the harbour
    Australian Magpie 2 (2) just outside the harbour



    We saw a small pod of dolphins and had excellent, close views of several Humpback Whales.

    Cheers

    Graham Barwell


    Shy Albatross