Sections
Calendar25th February 2023, SOSSA PELAGIC TRIP, KIAMA, NSW, AUSTRALIA.
Vessel: M.V Kato
Departed: 07:35 returned at 15:15.
Seas: North-easterly around 0.5 - 1m for most of the day, increasing to 1 - 2m in the afternoon as the wind picked up.
Weather: Mostly cloudy, with some clear patches. There was one brief shower in the morning.
Temperature range: 21 to 27 degrees.
Wind: 0 to 5 knot north-easterly in the morning, picking up to 10 - 15 knots on our way back in.
Sea surface temperature: 23 degrees in shore, 26.3 degrees at the shelf.
Report
We set off into fairly flat seas, with the forecast predicting little wind until late afternoon, when it would pick up to around 20 knots. This proved to be the case. The trip out was fairly quiet, an Arctic Jaeger that showed no interest in the boat, a few Gannets and the occasional Wedge-tailed Shearwater. A distant Shy-type albatross came into view, but it also showed no interest in us. As we approached the shelf, the number of birds behind the boat started to increase, Flesh-footed and Wedge-tailed Shearwaters were the predominate types, with a few Shy Albatrosses and our first petrel of the day, a Grey-faced Petrel.
We started our first drift at 9.30am in 122 fathoms, with the water temperature being 25.1 degrees. A Short-tailed Shearwater joined the other shearwaters, then a White-necked Petrel appeared, giving good views from a number of passes. Shortly afterwards a Long-tailed Jaeger arrived, staying and feeding behind the boat for several minutes. A pair of Sooty Terns also did a distant fly-by, paying little attention to the boat. An hour after the first one, another White-necked Petrel was sighted, also giving numerous passes of the boat, to the great delight of those on board.
After a few hours we decided to try out wider and moved to 145 fathoms, with the water temperature increasing to 26.3 degrees. Almost immediately we had success with a dark phase Kermadec Petrel doing a couple of passes. Grey-faced Petrel numbers also increased and the Flesh-footed and Wedge-tailed Shearwaters were still around in good numbers. An hour into this drift, a wandering-type albatross was sighted on the horizon. It slowly made its way towards the activity, revealing a very white Wandering Albatross. It was an interesting bird as while it was very white, with almost no black in the tail, it wasn't a large bird, certainly smaller than the Indian Ocean Wanderer's. Potentially it could have been a Macquarie Island bird, but, without any bands, it isn't possible to be sure.
Just after 1pm we started the journey home and at the 120 fathom mark, we stopped the boat to check for a possible Black Petrel in amongst the Flesh-footed Shearwaters. As soon as we stopped the boat, a Black Petrel appeared at the stern, giving great views. We stayed at this location for a while, but only added another Wilson's Storm-petrel to the days tally.
We continued on our return trip and, 45 minutes after leaving the Black Petrel, another was sighted, rounding out a very productive February pelagic.
Birds sighted (number in brackets was the greatest number seen together)
Australian Gannet: 2 (1) single birds, one adult and one juvenile.
Silver Gull: 8 (8) seen inshore on the way back.
Crested Tern: 2 (2) mainly seen on the way back in.
Shy Albatross: 7+ (4): constantly around once we arrived at the shelf. A number followed us back in shore.
Wedge-tailed Shearwater: 300+ (100+) constantly around from when we were approaching the shelf. A large number followed us back in shore.
Arctic Jaeger: 1 (1) seen inshore on the way out.
Long-tailed Jaeger: 1 (1) single bird at the first stopping point.
Sooty Tern: 2 (2) seen at the 1st stopping point.
Kermadec Petrel: 1 (1) a dark phased bird seen at the 2nd stopping point.
Grey-faced Petrel: 20 (10+) numbers built during the day, with the highest count at the 3rd stopping point.
Hutton's Shearwater: 1 (1) one sighted at the 1st stopping point at the shelf.
Wilson's Storm-petrel: 2 (1) single birds at the 2nd and 3rd stopping points.
White-necked Petrel: 2 (1) 2 separate sightings, an hour apart, at the 1st stopping point.
Wandering Albatross: 1 (1) a very white bird at the 2nd stopping point.
Flesh-footed Shearwater: 300+ (100+) constantly around from when we were approaching the shelf. A large number followed us back in shore.
Black Petrel: 2 (1) picked up amongst the birds following us back in from the shelf. We had one close to the shelf on the return trip, then another an hour later.
Short-tailed Shearwater: 3+ (1) single birds seen at all 3 stopping points.
Other
Hardhead Duck: 13 (13) inshore on the way out.
Mammals
Common Dolphin: 8+ a small pod seen inshore on the way out.