Saturday 25th May 2019 SOSSA PELAGIC TRIP, KIAMA, NSW, AUSTRALIA

Leaving Kiama Harbour in benign conditions at 07.30 hrs, we headed straight out to the shelf edge, making good time in the flat seas, stopping only once to investigate what may have been one or more small whales, possibly Minke Whales. We had stopped for only 10 mins or so at the shelf edge before we got onto a pod of Risso’s Dolphins, so moved closer hoping they would pass nearby us. They changed direction but still gave excellent views of their distinctive grey bodies and white heads. There were good numbers of Bottlenose Dolphins around as well. We then stopped at 34° 48’ 53” S; 151° 13’ 46” E, 32.8 km ESE of the harbour in 300m+ pelagic waters, the first of our three chumming spots for the day. Here we drifted rapidly south, parallel to the shore, in a strong northerly current (5.5 kph/3 knots), waiting to see what would come in. Having drifted 4.2 km in the 50 mins since we had been stopped and having seen only two species, we decided to try further out in deeper water, so moved 4 km out to 34° 48’ 53” S; 151° 13’ 46” E, 37.3 km from the harbour. Here we chummed and drifted 2.6 km south, but saw nothing new.

We were beginning to fear that there was very little around birdwise and could hear on the boat’s radio fishermen complaining about the absence of fish, so we gave up on the deep water and moved 12 km back into the shelf edge, hoping to find birds attracted to any upwelling there or travelling south or north along the edge of the shelf. Our third stop was at 34° 47’ 25” S; 151° 06’ 19” E, 26.1 km ESE of the harbour in 200m+ waters. We chummed steadily here for an hour and ten minutes, drifting steadily south but having no more success than the previous stops and seeing only the same two species as we had at those two locations: Providence Petrel and Greater Crested Tern.

By this stage it was 13.40 hrs and time to head back since we were some distance SE of the harbour. We travelled back in at a steady rate, encountering a couple of Humpback Whales on their way to their breeding grounds off Queensland and a late-staying Parasitic Jaeger harassing the Silver Gulls. We arrived back at the jetty at 15.45 hrs.

Sea conditions were nearly flat with a swell of no more than 0.5 m and very little wind, ideal for spotting cetaceans. Sea temperature at the shelf edge was a remarkably warm 24.5° as a strong plume of warm water swept down from the north. This was a marked contrast from conditions in April and may explain the almost complete absence of colder water birds, with only five species of tubenoses seen. The only one present in any numbers was Providence Petrel, which is a winter breeder on Lord Howe Island, 840 kms to the NE.

Species seen outside the harbour, maximum at any one time in brackets:

063 Wilson’s Storm Petrel - 2+ (1)
091 Shy Albatross – 1 (1) subspecies not determined
864 Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross – 1 (1) adult
971 Solander’s Petrel – 20 (2)
068 Fluttering Shearwater – 1 (1)
White-faced Heron – 2 (2) flying north, 10.5 km offshore
106 Australian Pelican - 2 (2) just outside the harbour
104 Australasian Gannet – 15 (5) mainly adults
125 Silver Gull - 30+ (25)
981 Kelp Gull – 2 (2) immatures
115 Greater Crested Tern – 18 (11) often hitching a ride on the bow rail of the boat
128 Parasitic Jaeger – 1 (1) late-staying bird

We saw several Humpback Whales, at least one possible Minke Whale, and, at the shelf edge and beyond, two pods of Risso’s Dolphins, and many small pods of Bottlenose Dolphins.