This is a report from the latest daytrip on the R.V. Munida on the 11 April
1996. We went out as far as 8nm offshore into waters 95m deep. There was
a slight NE-wind and a swell of 1m. Numbers represent birds counted within
a 200m transect and in brackets total numbers of all birds seen for all but
the very common species.
Yellow-eyed Penguin 2 (2)
Little Blue Penguin 4 (4)
Royal Albatross 5 (24: 15 southern, 4 northern)
Shy Mollymawk 16 (93)
Buller's Mollymawk 34 (140)
Northern Giant Petrel (2)
White-chinned Petrel 1 (6 + 2 unidentified)
Cape Pigeon 16 (81)
Prion spec. 1 (2)
Sooty Shearwater 612
Buller's Shearwater (1)
Hutton's Shearwater 2 (10 + 4 unidentified)
Diving Petrel spec (2)
Spotted Shag 18
Stewart Island Shag 28
Australasian Gannet 1 (1)
Arctic Skua (1)
Brown Skua (1)
Southern Black-backed Gull 17
Red/Black-billed Gull 89 (+66 Black-billed)
Black-fronted Tern (12)
White-fronted Tern 23
Currently there is an endless band of Sooties flying north just off the
coast. Notably almost all the Royal Albatrosses were heading north as
well, while the Hutton's Shearwaters went south. A next trip is planed for
29 April, that time specifically for birdwatching.
Martin
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Martin Renner email:
Department of Zoology fax: ++64-3-479 7584
University of Otago phone: 03-479 7665 (work)
P.O. Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand 03-455 7511 (home)
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