PERTH WESTERN AUSTRALIA PELAGIC TRIP REPORT Friday 27th June 1997
PARTICIPANTS : me (!) and 20 fishers
CONDITIONS :
Departed Hillarys Boat Harbour at 7.00am (sunrise at 07:18) - returned at
4.10pm. Forecast to be a 1 metre sea on a 1.5 metre swell but it was very
calm. The temperature was about 11C at departure with a maximum of about
21C. The breeze was very, very light.
DESCRIPTION :
With the weather so calm all week, I decided to go on a fishing trip to see
what was out there at this time of year. The boat only went out to a depth
of 124m, so I wasn't sure what I would see. The trip wasn't earth
shattering, but it was good.
The boat headed out from Hillarys Boat Harbour to S31 48.374 E115 14.430
with a depth of 123 metres at 08:30. A few gannets, a Great Skua and a
Yellow-nosed Albatross were the only birds seen on the way out.
The longer we were there, the more YNAs that came in (mostly immature with
only one full adult seen). There were also some (immature) Black-browed
Albatross with them. One Crested Tern and a few Wilson's Storm-Petrels were
the other birds seen early. About 10:30 a Great Skua landed on the surface
nearby, and shortly after one Cape Petrel and one Soft-plumaged Petrel flew
past. The Cape Petrel stayed for a while.
The day was spent drifting, with regular repositioning of the boat. The
maximum number of birds seen at any one time were 21 YNAs, 4 BBAs and 3
Great Skuas.
We headed back for shore at 14:55, and on the way we saw 3 whales
(Humpbacks?), and 3 Bottle-nosed Dolphins in the harbour.
BIRD LIST (Christidis & Boles order) :
Cape Petrel (1)
Soft-plumaged Petrel (1)
Black-browed Albatross (4+)
Yellow-nosed Albatross (30+)
Wilson's Storm-Petrel (6 sightings with a maximum of 2 birds)
Australasian Gannet (6)
Great Skua (4)
Crested Tern (1)
Pied Cormorant (~10) harbour
Silver Gull (50+) harbour
Australian Magpie (1) harbour
MAMMAL LIST :
Humpback (?) Whale (3)
Bottle-nosed Dolphin (3) harbour
FISH LIST (not mine) :
Pink Snapper
Yellow-eyed Pink Snapper (young of same species?)
Leatherjacket
reef shark
Skipjack
Blowfish
a big one!! (1 metre long) that I don't know
NEXT TRIP :
If you are interested in this sort of trip, then you can book through Mills
Charters (08) 9246 5334. The cost is $65 for the day, but it could be less
if you say that you are a birder and that you won't be fishing much.
Otherwise, I organise full pelagic birding trips (next trips on July 20th
and 14th September).
____________________________________________________________
Frank O'Connor Argyle Diamonds
8C Hardy Road PMB 11
Nedlands WA 6009 West Perth WA 6872
Phone +61 8 9386 5694 +61 8 9167 1445
Fax +61 8 9167 1438
Email
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