Port Stephens Pelagic Trip Report Sunday 18th April 2021
Boat: M.V. Contagious, skippered by Dale Wellham.
CONDITIONS
Similar to last month we headed out with a steady 10-15 knot southerly airflow on our starboard side, with a brief shower that created a wonderful triple-rainbow display. Again the swell was low but there was reasonable chop created by wind waves. We commenced our drift at -32.960130, 152.568740 at 0932 drifting in a northerly direction (the wind beating the current?) for a couple of hours, relocating to -32.995720, 152.524770 drifting north again to -32.925170, 152.577630, from where we departed at 1339. Water temperature about 23 degrees at the shelf.
ACTIVITY
Departed Nelson Bay public wharf at 7:11am returning by 4:13pm. Very few birds followed us for the trip out and overall the day was somewhat disappointing given the recent successful pelagics off Sydney and Terrigal. Activity at the shelf was very low, with just moderate numbers of Wedge-tailed and Flesh-footed Shearwaters. Significantly, we thought, no gannets at all were seen. The first storm-petrel to arrive was a White-faced; the only one of that species for the day. Wilson's Storm-petrels then started to appear and eventually peaked at around half a dozen individuals; a far cry from the ~200 just a few weeks ago. The odd Solander's Petrel gave nice views, with a Grey-faced Petrel being new to the days list very late in the drift.
The day perhaps again belonged to the dolphins that kept us entertained with several small pods Offshore Bottlenose Dolphins that came and paid us a visit; one pod lingering for almost twenty minutes. The journey home was again uneventful, with a huge flock of Wedge-tailed Shearwaters arriving when we were close to Point Stephens and the only gannet of the day seen literally a few hundred metres from the heads. Once inside, an adult White-bellied Sea-eagle made a few unsuccessful attempts at taking one of the many shearwaters that had followed us into the port.
Wilson's Storm-petrel. Photo: Mark Simpson
BIRDS
13 species were recorded outside of Port Stephens - another relatively disappointing day. Counts are totals for birds seen outside the heads (with the maximum number visible from the boat at one time in brackets), many are estimates. Taxonomy follows the BirdLife Australia Working List V3.
Wilson's Storm-petrel: 10 (6). All in the slick, some making close passes to the rear of the boat.
White-faced Storm-petrel: 1. Crossed the rear of the boat very early in the drift and not seen again.
Wedge-tailed Shearwater: 1800 (1400). Big number of birds at the dying part of the day. Otherwise a few attendant birds at the boat; the remainder marauding birds in deep water.
Flesh-footed Shearwater: 90 (30). Numbers down on last month.
Short-tailed Shearwater: 1). One inshore on the return leg.
Hutton's Shearwater: 4 (2). All on the return leg.
Fluttering-type Shearwater: One unidentified bird.
Black-browed Albatross: 1. Adult bird on the way back in.
Providence (Solander's) Petrel: 6 (2). Some good views of a couple of birds in particular. All pelagic.
Grey-faced Petrel: 1. Did a few passes of the boat late in the drift (a rather small-billed individual we thought).
Australasian Gannet: 1. Immature bird near the heads.
Crested Tern: 6 (3). Inshore.
Caspian Tern. 1. About a mile outside of the heads on the return leg.
Silver Gull: 10 (4). Inshore on way back in.
MAMMALS
Offshore Bottlenose Dolphin: 25: Far fewer than last month, but some seemed to be very faithful to the boat.
FISH
Some flying-fish (maybe ~5).
Offshore Bottlenose Dolphins