Sections
CalendarLeaving Kiama at 07.30 hrs, we proceeded directly to the outer edge of the continental shelf, stopping briefly to look at two Humpback Whales heading south. Arriving at 09.45 hrs in deep waters (404 m/221 fathoms) at 34° 47’ 49” S; 151° 11’ 00” E, 32.7 km ESE of Kiama harbour, we cut the engines and began the first of three drift and chum sessions. As the southerly wind pushed us slowly 2km north, we used the usual combination of chicken mince, suet and tuna oil to attract whatever birds were in the area. We soon had a good array of albatrosses around us, including a probable Antipodean, subspecies gibsoni, which had a yellow darvic-type band on its right leg with the number 207 written on it and the usual metal band on its left leg. It was thought this was probably a study bird from the Auckland Islands, but this is yet to be confirmed. Damage to the shaft of the catching net meant that we were unable to catch this bird. At this location we also had visits from a couple of species not often recorded off Kiama: Cape Petrel and White-headed Petrel.
At around 11.30 we decided to move 7 km to the inner part of the shelf edge at 34° 46’ 39” S; 151° 06’ 36” E, 25.7 km ESE of the harbour in 207m/113 fathoms. Here we drifted slowly westward for an hour or so, chumming as we did. We were successful in attracting a good number of great albatrosses including several which were already banded. One of these was caught and proved by bill measurements to be a female Wandering Albatross (exulans), which had first been banded off Ulladulla by the SOSSA banding team on the MV Banks in 183m/100 fathoms on 19 July 2009. Based on plumage, it was considered to be around 10 years old at the time of banding, thus making it around 20 years old in 2019. Unfortunately the other banded birds evaded capture.
Our luck was not entirely gone, because we were treated to fairly close views of two more birds infrequently seen off Kiama: a White-chinned Petrel which landed close to the boat and a single Northern Royal Albatross, which made a number of close passes before eventually landing some distance away and not coming any closer. These albatrosses, which are rare in NSW waters, seem to occur off Kiama most often in September. The White-chinned Petrel was initially thought to be an early returning Black Petrel, but careful inspection of photographs, together with a consideration of the ID features of the procellaria petrels likely to be seen off Kiama, allowed its true identity to be determined.
At 13.10 we decided to move 20 kms into inshore waters to see what shearwaters were around, so we set up our third drift and chum session at 34° 41’ 25” S; 150° 54’ 10” E, only 4.45 km offshore in much shallower waters. From 14.35 hrs we drifted 1 km south in the now northerly wind for approximately half an hour, attracting mainly Wedge-tailed Shearwaters together with the only Brown Skua seen all day. At this point we called it a day and proceeded in to harbour, arriving at 15.30 hrs.
Sea conditions were moderate in a 2 m swell initially, diminishing as the wind dropped before switching from southerly to northerly. Sea temperature at the shelf edge was 18° with 16° inshore.
Highlight of the day was the excellent range of albatrosses coupled with good views of a number of rarities: Northern Royal Albatross, Cape Petrel, White-headed Petrel and Black Petrel.
Species seen outside the harbour, maximum at any one time in brackets:
086 Wandering Albatross - 4 (2) one female caught which had been banded in 2009
847 Antipodean Albatross - 5 (4) mainly subspecies gibsoni, but one male antipodensis present; one study bird numbered 207
973 Northern Royal Albatross - 1 (1)
088 Black-browed Albatross - 6+ (3) both adults and immatures present
859 Campbell Albatross - 1 (1) an immature
091 Shy Albatross - 10+ (2) adults & immatures; not identified to subspecies
864 Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross - 2 (1)
931 Buller’s Albatross - 4 (2)
929 Southern Giant Petrel - 2 (2)
080 Cape Petrel - 1 (1)
083 Fairy Prion - 5+ (2)
077 White-headed Petrel - 1 (1)
075 Grey-faced Petrel - 10+ (5)
971 Providence (Solander’s) Petrel - 10+ (5)
915 White-chinned Petrel - 1 (1) initially misidentified as a Black Petrel
069 Wedge-tailed Shearwater - 75+ (50+)
071 Short-tailed Shearwater - 7 (5+)
068 Fluttering Shearwater - 20+ (6+)
104 Australasian Gannet - 8 (5) mainly adults
099 Pied Cormorant - 1 (1) just outside the harbour
125 Silver Gull - 150+(150+)
115 Greater Crested Tern - 30+ (15)
980 Brown Skua - 1 (1)
We saw Humpback Whales on the outward and inward legs of our trip and a sunfish sp. at the shelf edge.
Report prepared by Graham Barwell