Sections
Calendar27th August 2022, SOSSA PELAGIC TRIP, KIAMA, NSW, AUSTRALIA.
Vessel: M.V Kato
Departed: 07:35 returned at 15:00.
Seas: South-easterly around 1 - 2m. Overall, it was a relatively comfortable trip.
Weather: Mostly cloudy, with some clear patches. There were numerous rain squalls around, but we didn't get too wet.
Temperature range: 12 to 17 degrees.
Wind: 5 to 10 knot southerly in the morning, which dropped off to practically nothing in the afternoon.
Sea surface temperature: 17 degrees in shore, 18.3 degrees at the shelf.
Report
We set off into fairly flat seas, with the forecast predicting they would remain the same all day, which they did. As per the July trip, besides small groups of fluttering-type shearwaters and the occasional Gannet, birds were few and far between on the trip out. There were a distant sightings of a couple of albatrosses and a few early returning Wedge-tailed Shearwaters, but the first few hours of the trip were very quiet.
We arrived at the shelf and a Wandering Albatross did a distant fly past, but wasn t interested in the boat and kept on going. A few Solander's Petrels were also sighted, but there wasn't much else around. We continued on to 147 fathoms where we turned the engines off and started a slick. The first hour was very slow, with only the occasional Solander's Petrel sighted. An adult Black-bowed Albatross, soon followed by a juvenile, joined us and then a Wandering Albatross landed behind the boat, but birds were few and far between. A Fairy Prion was sighted and a Shy Albatross gave some good views, but besides a steady stream of Solander's Petrels, there wasn't much about.
We decided to try out wider and moved to 158 fathoms, but besides some White-faced Storm Petrels and a few Fairy Prions, there was even less activity than our first stopping point. At 12.30pm we started our trip back, stopping in 80 and 35 fathoms, but didn't add much. A Buller's Albatross did a flyby at the 80 fathoms mark, but wasn't interested in us.
Back inshore we added an Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross, which also didn't stop and another Buller's Albatross joined us, allowing those who missed the first sighting, much closer views. We arrived back at the harbour at 3pm.
Birds sighted (number in brackets was the greatest number seen together)
Australian Gannets: 8+ (2) single birds and a few pairs sighted on the way out. A mix of adults and juveniles.
Silver Gull: 20 (5) seen inshore on the way out and way back.
Fluttering Shearwater: 10+ (5) several small groups seen inshore on the way in.
Crested Tern: 8 (2) mainly seen on the way back in.
Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross: 1 (1) a brief flyby inshore on the way in.
Black-browed Albatross: 4+ (2) a few flybys during the day, but an adult and a juvenile landed behind the boat at the first stopping point.
Solander's Petrel: 25+ (5) only observed at the shelf.
Buller's Albatross: 2 (1) one sighted briefly sighted at the 80 fathom mark on the way back in, the 2nd followed the boat for a while inshore.
Shy Albatross: 5+ (1): a few flybys during the day, but an adult gave good views at the first stopping point.
Fairy Prion: 4 (1) seen only at the 2 stopping points on the shelf.
Antipodean Albatross (Gibson s): 2 (1) one seen briefly when we crossed the shelf, the 2nd landed behind the boat at the first stopping point.
White-faced Storm-petrel: 3 (1) observed at the 2 stopping points at the shelf.
Wedge-tailed Shearwater: 10+ (2) seen inshore on both the way out and back in.
Hutton s Shearwater: 2 (1) one sighted at the 1st stopping point at the shelf, the other on the way in.
Australian Pelican: 1 (1) seen with a boat fishing just outside the harbour on our departure.
Mammals
Common Dolphin: 2+ a small pod seen inshore on the way in.
Humpback Whale: several sighted at various times throughout the day.