• Monday 9th October 2017 SOSSA PELAGIC TRIP, KIAMA, NSW, AUSTRALIA.

    Date / Month: 9th October 2017 Recorded by Lindsay E. Smith
    Location: Kiama NSW MV Kiama Inala Private Charter
    Air temp: 32
    Air pressure: 1004 Hp Cloud cover: 2/5
    Wind speed and direction: N-NW 10-Knots in morning WSW 15-25 knots in the late afternoon
    Sea conditions: 1-1.5m on a low swell of 2-3mtrs
    all day
    Comments
    A very comfortable day at sea with pleasant conditions, though birds in general were again in unusually low numbers for this time of the year. Our initial chumming location was in 165 Fathoms. From here we drifted 5.6 nautical miles s0112 in 310 fathoms before heading back to shore with brief stops in 80 fathoms, 60 Fathoms 30 fathoms and 15 fathoms before returning to harbour at 1600Hrs.

    Mammals
    Hump-backed Whales were still moving south in reasonable numbers though most were very shy of the boat and offered only brief views. A small pod of Common Dolphins 6-10 animals were also seen briefly in about 75 fathoms on our way out to the continental shelf break. Several quite large pods of Oceanic Bottle-nosed Dolphins (10-30 individuals /pod) were observed moving north in waters of 80-310 Fathoms.

    Sp No Species Number
    075 Grey-faced Petrel, Pterodroma macroptera gouldi - 4 (2)
    971 Providence Petrel, Pterodroma solandri - 15+ (6)
    069 Wedge-tailed Shearwater, Puffinus pacificus - 30+ (6)
    070 Sooty Shearwater, Puffinus griseus - 4 (3)
    071 Short-tailed Shearwater, Puffinus tenuirostris - 8+ (5)
    068 Fluttering Shearwater, Puffinus gavial - 4 (2)
    913 Hutton’s Shearwater, Puffinus huttoni - 15+(5)
    847 Gibson’s Albatross, Diomedea gibsoni - (4)
    088 Black-browed Albatross, Thalassarche melanophrys - 2 (2)
    859 Campbell Albatross, Thalassarche impavida - 2 (2)
    931 Buller’s Albatross, Thalassarche bulleri - 2 (1)
    861 White-capped Albatross, Thalassarche steadi - 8 (4)
    063 Wilson’s Storm-Petrel, Oceanites oceanicus - 15+ (3)
    104 Australasian Gannet, Morus serrator - 10+ (3)
    100 Little Pied Cormorant, Phalacrocorax melanoleucos - 3 (3)
    099 Pied Cormorant, Phalacrocorax varius - 1 (1)
    097 Little black Cormorant, Phalacrocorax sulcirostris - 3 (3)
    096 Great Cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo - 2 (2)
    106 Australian Pelican, Pelicanus conspicillatus - 2 (2)
    125 Silver Gull, Larus novaehollandiae - 80+ (60+)