• Sunday 26th August 2018 SOSSA PELAGIC TRIP, KIAMA, NSW, AUSTRALIA

     
    Published on 04-09-2018 08:21 AM
    Date / Month: 26th August 2018 (Sunday) Recorded by: Lindsay Smith
    Air temp: 15 degrees Water temp Off Shore: 18 degrees
    Wind speed and direction: 3-5 Knots from NE increasing to 12 Knots NE in the afternoon
    Sea conditions 1-1.5 m from the east

    Comments
    Another great weekend on the ocean with a very diverse group of interesting people from around the world including: Finland. Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg, Switzerland, Japan, Britain, and the USA.

    The conditions at sea were very comfortable for all on board and the light though a little dull at times made for excellent viewing of all birds and mammals on the day. On leaving the harbour at 07.30hrs we headed ENE towards the Continental Shelf. Close inshore we encountered small groups of Hutton’s Shearwaters and low numbers of Wedge-tailed Shearwaters. A few smaller albatrosses, Black-browed and White-capped followed. Due to the very light wind, many birds remained on the water with several small groups of Fairy Prions resting on the water. Once we crossed over the Continental Shelf birds became more numerous and we stopped in 130 fathoms NE of Kiama.

    The low swells and light winds made mammals, relatively easy to see and Hump-backed Whales were observed on many occasions breaching in the not too far distance. The variety of birds increased as we began chumming. We soon had a few Solander’s Petrels (Providence Petrel) circling the boat and attaching more than100 Crested Terns, a small number of White-fronted Terns and 40-50+ albatrosses including Wandering, Gibson’s, White-capped, Yellow-nosed, Black-browed and Brown Skuas, to the delight of all on board. Whilst we drifted a couple of very large Hump-backed whales circled within meters of the boat for about twenty minutes taking all on board by surprise.
    The SOSSA banding team were able to capture and band three Wandering Albatrosses, one Yellow-nosed albatross and two Wedge-tailed Shearwaters.

    Mammals: Hump-backed Whales, Common Dolphins, a distant pod of possible Pygmy Killer Whales (though identification not confirmed) a large Australian Fur-seal.

    Many thanks to those who joined us for the day.
    Cheers Lindsay

    Numbers are conservative. Max Number seen together in brackets
    Sp No Species Number
    971 Providence Petrel, Pterodroma solandri - 8 (3)
    Prion, Pachyptila spp
    083 Fairy Prion, Pachyptila turtur - 50+(12)
    069 Wedge-tailed Shearwater, Puffinus pacificus - 50+(30)
    913 Hutton’s Shearwater, Puffinus huttoni - 100+ (20)
    Wandering Albatross, Diomedea spp
    086 Wandering Albatross, Diomedea exulans -6 (3)
    847 Gibson’s Albatross, Diomedea gibsoni - 4+ (2)
    Black-browed Albatross, Thalassarche spp
    088 Black-browed Albatross, Thalassarche melanophrys - 25+ (8)
    859 Campbell Albatross, Thalassarche impavida - 1
    861 White-capped Albatross, Thalassarche steadi - 8 (3)
    864 Indian yellow-nosed Albatross, Thalassarche bassi - 10+ (5)
    063 Wilson’s Storm-Petrel, Oceanites oceanicus - 2+ (2)
    104 Australasian Gannet, Morus serrator - 6+ (2)
    100 Little Pied Cormorant, Phalacrocorax melanoleucos - 2
    099 Pied Cormorant, Phalacrocorax varius - 1
    097 Little black Cormorant, Phalacrocorax sulcirostris - 2
    096 Great Cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo - 3
    106 Australian Pelican, Pelicanus conspicillatus - 2
    980 Brown Skua, Catharacta skua - 6+ (3)
    125 Silver Gull, Larus novaehollandiae - 20+
    115 Crested Tern, Sterna bergii - 100+
    114 White-fronted Tern, Sterna striata - 8 (4)