PELAGIC REPORT, SYDNEY DECEMBER 11 1999
Set out 0715 hrs, returned 1615 hrs.
Conditions:
Fine, mild to warm. Seas less than a metre on a two
metre swell, winds from the east, tending north-east.
Those on board:
Gail Adam, Michael Aearns, Steve Anyon-Smith, Pierre
Cherarbonneau, Reg Clarke, Steve Edwards, David and
Sophia Frew, Phil Hansbro, Stephen Kaye, Todd and Pam
McGrath, Alan Morris, Jan and Ross Mulholland, Ted
Nixon, Allan Richards, Andrew Stafford, Bill Wilson.
Summary:
An excellent day out. The Halicat hooned out to the
shelf in double-quick time, and while this made for a
slow start, with no birds joining the boat until our
first chumming location, our time in deeper water was
certainly extended. Good birds seemed to arrive almost
on cue on the few occasions that boredom threatened to
take hold. Sooty Terns were the first notable arrivals
and the first records for this summer. Later, it was a
Buller's Shearwater and a few Black Petrels, before a
White-chinned Petrel made a customarily aggressive
approach. The Black Petrels scattered and kept their
distance from that point, with the White-chinned
competing vigorously with Wandering Albatross for
scraps. And speaking of which, when are said Wandering
Albatross going to wake up and realise it is now
DECEMBER and they should maybe think about returning
to the Southern Ocean for a few months at least? It
will be interesting to see if they persist into
January. The real highlight of the day though was a
White-tailed Tropicbird which put in a brief
appearance behind the boat before disappearing at
great speed. Two cetaceans were spotted breaching from
a distance but dived as we approached. They appeared
to be Humpback Whales but, if this is correct, they
would have to be extraordinarily late on their
migration, so this mystery will remain unsolved.
One more thing: despite claims the White-chinned
Petrel had a white chin, I found it next to impossible
to see even when the bird flew directly over our
heads!
Birds seen (numbers in brackets: highest at any one
time)
Wandering Albatross 15 - 18 (13)
Black-browed Albatross 2 (1 impavida, 1 melanophrys)
Great-winged Petrel c. 150
Providence Petrel 1
BLACK PETREL 3 (3)
WHITE-CHINNED PETREL 1
BULLER'S SHEARWATER 1-2 (1)
Wedge-tailed Shearwater c. 100
Flesh-footed Shearwater c. 30
Short-tailed Shearwater c. 10
Sooty Shearwater c. 2
Hutton's Shearwater 4-5 (1)
Fluttering Shearwater 1
White-faced Storm-Petrel 2 (1)
Wilson's Storm-Petrel 3 (1)
WHITE-TAILED TROPICBIRD 1
Ruddy Turnstone - flock of 9
Pomarine Jaegar 10
LONG-TAILED JAEGAR 1
Silver Gull
Crested Tern 5
Common Tern 5 (in harbour)
SOOTY TERN 10 (6)
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