Hi all,
Here's the second of the two pelagics that ran off Port Fairy on the
weekend. This one was the usual monthly BA Vic Group trip delayed by a week
due to bad weather last weekend.
Cheers
Rohan Clarke
PORT FAIRY (PF), VIC, PELAGIC TRIP REPORT, 11 May 2003
OBSERVERS: Chris Lester (organiser), Chris Barnes, Harry Clarke, Geoff
Walker, Frank Pierce, Jennifer Spry, Rob Berry, Gail Berry, Peter Crabtree,
Peter Lansley, David Stickney and Rohan Clarke.
WEATHER: Mostly overcast in the am, clearing somewhat in the pm. Generally
good visibility although a little dull at times. Cool to mild. SE wind of
5-10 knots inshore at first rising to 15 knots offshore.
SEA: fairly smooth sea on a small swell on the way out. Increasing to a
somewhat choppy sea on a moderate swell at the shelf. Remaining much the
same on the way in
A nice ride out, with a bit of a roll on the way back into LJPI. Plenty of
spray and few 'bumps' on the final leg into Port Fairy. In contrast to the
previous day no one was seasick.
ACTIVITY: Sailed at 0715 EST. Headed directly to the sea mount at 38º49.2'S
141º51.2'E with a couple of short stops on the way. A few jaegers provided
some interest early on and as with the previous day a band of prions and a
few shearwaters where present between the 40 and 50 fathom mark. We crossed
the shelf break (100 fathoms) at around 1000. We stopped and berleyed with
shark liver at two main locations around the sea mount first at 38º49.23'S
141º53.34'E and then at 38º51.45'S 141º51.67'E. At the first stop things
started off slowly with an almost total absence of birds in the first five
minutes however things rapidly grew to big aggregations with good diversity.
Coming in, a single stop was made at the 'rare petrel' mark around the 100
fathom mark with some success. We again passed through the Prions in
offshore waters. We cruised off the western and northern shores of Lady
Julia Percy Island (LJPI) and docked around 1630.
MAMMALS: 1,000's of Australian Fur Seals at LJPI mostly females with large
pups. Also about 10 at sea in ones and twos.
BIRDS: 24 species of seabird beyond the river mouth indicated good
diversity. Strong similarities to the previous day. Best birds were the
unprecedented numbers of Soft-plumaged Petrels that were in attendance
almost continuously beyond the shelf break. A sighting of the rarely
reported dark phase was particularly notable. Four Sooty Albatross was also
unprecedented and included a very obliging adult or near adult that made
many passes and fed some 20 m behind the boat and three immature birds in
different stages of wear that visited for varying lengths of time. Despite
the sometimes dull conditions excellent photo opportunities existed. Unless
noted otherwise, those listed below were near or beyond the shelf break
(i.e. pelagic).
Little Penguin: 2, 1 on LJPI and 1 beside LJPI
Great-winged Petrel: 100 (60). all nominate race
Cape Petrel: 1
SOFT-PLUMAGED PETREL: 10 (4 + 1 dark phase bird). All pelagic
Fairy Prion: 120 (35), 20 offshore & few inshore.
Giant Petrel spp: 2, both imm. 1 bird landed behind the boat and left
passengers divided over ID. (I suspect Northern, others argued for Southern)
Short-tailed Shearwater: 17 (10). 4 pelagic, 10 offshore, 3 inshore.
Fluttering Shearwater: 8 (3) all inshore.
Wandering Albatross: 8 (6 mostly exulens by size, 2 stage 1, the remainder
stage 3-4)
Black-browed Albatross: 55 (20) with nom. race, 10+ (5) impavida, 20+ (8)
Shy Albatross cauta: 72 (35). 10 offshore, 5 inshore.
Yellow-nosed Albatross: 21 (5). 4 offshore, 10 inshore.
SOOTY ALBATROSS: 4, (1 adult and 3 immature in different stages of wear).
Wilson's Storm-Petrel: 8 (5).
GREY-BACKED STORM-PETREL: 6 (5).
Common Diving Petrel: 10 (5) mostly inshore, 1 offshore
Australasian Gannet: 240 (20) mostly offshore but 3 (inc two juvs) pelagic.
Black-faced Cormorant: 1 ad. on LJPI.
Pomerine Jaeger 1 inshore
Arctic Jaeger 2 inshore
Jaeger spp. 3 inshore but very distant
Kelp Gull: 10 on LJPI.
Silver Gull: 55 on LJPI and 11 inshore
Pacific Gull; 1 imm inshore
Crested Tern: 18 (5) mostly inshore
Rohan Clarke
Department of Zoology
La Trobe University
Vic 3086
office 03 9479 1672 mobile 0408 947 001
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