Sections
CalendarLeaving Kiama Harbour at 07.30 hrs, we travelled directly out to the start of the shelf edge at 34° 42’ 51” S; 151° 08’ 20” E, 25.9 km ESE of the harbour in 112 fathoms/205 m. Here we stopped and chummed with a mixture of chicken mince, suet and tuna oil, gradually drifting 3.3 km southward over the next three or so hours, 09.10-12.00 hrs, waiting to see what would come in and what the SOSSA banding team, also aboard, could catch. The longer we drifted, the more birds came in until we had very good numbers of Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross present, along with a mixture of other albatrosses and seabirds. The banding team worked busily, catching and banding Black-browed, Indian Yellow-nosed and Buller’s Albatrosses, as well as one Brown Skua. This activity provided excellent close-up views of these seabirds to the Illawarra Birders. An adult Black-browed Albatross was seen at the back of the boat with discarded recreational fishing line caught up in its bill. This line still had an attached hook hanging freely by the bird's neck. Fortunately, we were able to catch the bird and relieve it of its unwelcome burden, before banding and releasing it. While we were drifting at the shelf edge, we also had a visit from a Dwarf Minke Whale which made a couple of close underwater passes by the boat.
By midday it was time to think about turning back in and, on our return journey, we stopped briefly at 34° 43’ 31” S; 151° 01’ 18” E, 15.5 km ESE of the harbour in 120m shelf waters. Here we tried (without success) to catch the Buller’s Albatrosses accompanying us. While we were stopped, a banded Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross was seen, and we were successful in catching it. It bore French bands and was thought to be from Amsterdam Island in the Indian Ocean, where the biggest colony of this species is located. We await the response from the French Banding Office with interest.
After another brief stop only 1.5 km offshore, we arrived back at the harbour at 14.00 hrs.
Sea conditions were comfortable for all aboard with a gentle >1m swell. Sea temperature at the shelf edge was 17°-18°.
Highlight for the day was the good number of Indian Yellow-nosed Albatrosses we attracted, which had presumably been travelling along the shelf edge, parallel to the shore.
Species seen outside the harbour, maximum at any one time in brackets:
088 Black-browed Albatross - 10+ (7) mainly adults, but one immature present; some caught and banded, one relieved of discarded fishing line in its bill
091 Shy Albatross - 10+ (6) adults & immatures; one adult moulting primaries & all imms considered to be Tasmanian breeding cauta
864 Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross - 40+ (28) mainly adults, but one immature present; several caught and banded, one had French bands on it
931 Buller’s Albatross - 4 (3) two caught and banded
929 Southern Giant Petrel - 1 (1) immature
Prion sp. - 1 (1) distant bird seen briefly by at least one observer
971 Providence (Solander’s) Petrel - 1 (1) fewer present than usual
069 Wedge-tailed Shearwater - 10 (4) first returns after their usual winter absence
068 Fluttering Shearwater - 70+ (50+) a flock, almost certainly this species, flying south passed behind us; 20+ other Fluttering types seen during the day
104 Australasian Gannet - 15+ (4) adults and juveniles
125 Silver Gull - 25+ (22)
115 Greater Crested Tern - 30 (20)
114 White-fronted Tern - 4 (3)
980 Brown Skua - 2 (2) 1 caught and banded; total seen over the day possibly 3
Apart from the visit from the Dwarf Minke Whale at the shelf edge, we saw several Humpback Whales breaching spectacularly and were accompanied at one stage by a small pod of unidentified dolphins.
Graham Barwell