Hi,
For general interest, my report detailing sightings and distribution of
seabirds over the northwest shelf near the Montara Oil Spill is up on the WWF
website: http://www.wwf.org.au/publications/montaraoilspillreport/. I thought
birding-aus members may be interested in reading about the observations from a
rarely visited area.
It has been particularly interesting to note the status of Matsudaira's Storm
Petrel. Rohan Clarke and I were discussing the possibility that the northwest
shelf may be the principal non-breeding location for this species. "The
encounter rate of 26 birds in 59 hours (0.44 birds/hr) [seen in the recent
survey] is slightly
higher than 20 birds seen in 61 hours (0.33 birds/hr) south of Ashmore
Reef in 2004 and less than the 50 birds seen in 64 hours (0.78
birds/hr) in 2008." These encounter rates, if extrapolated to other parts of
the Timor Sea would seem to indicate a very large number of birds. Rohan is
going to try to collect some distance sampling data on the forthcoming Ashmore
Reef trip so we can think a bit more about possible densities.
The world population best estimate for this data-deficient species is 20,000
(http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/sites/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=3985&m=0),
based on the fact it is currently known only from the Iwo Islands south of
Japan. I've concluded in my report that this species is possibly one more
likely to be at risk from coming into contact with oil, especially given its
apparent conservation status.
Despite the seriousness of the situation, it was fun anchored on a shoal in 17m
of water nearly 400 miles offshore, one mile from a 300m drop-off and having
Leach's Storm Petrel, Bulwer's Petrel and possible Swinhoe's Petrel drifting
past about 100m from the boat at dusk. There are a few photos from the trip
here: http://aussiebirding.wildiaries.com/trips/185.
Regards,
Simon Mustoe.
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